The Life of a Blonde
by yllom21
Summary: Joey never told his friends about his problems. But when his father suddenly takes him away and his beatings start to get worse and worse, Joey begins to wonder if life is all it's cracked out to be. COMPLETE
1. Away We Go

**Hey people, thanks for clicking on this story! There are just a few things I want to say before I actually post the story. First off, I would really appreciate it if you reviewed it. Even if you thought it was horrible, you could at least tell me why, or you could at least let me know that you took the time to read it. And please do not flame me. I do want criticism, but that doesn't mean that you have to be down-right nasty. Also, I will not abandon this story, for that I promise. I might make some one-shots while I am working on this, but this story will be finished, I promise you that. Oh, and while I am talking about one-shots, if you are interested, would you mind reading my Doom one-shot? I would appreciate it!**

**Well, enough of my rambling… let the story begin!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 1: Away We Go

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (Sadly enough, do you know how rich I would be? I could travel all over the place, to Australia, London, Paris, Brazil, Hawaii, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, California, Canada, Alaska…)

His father just wouldn't shut up. Grimacing at the foul language his father was spewing out, and the loud horns of the car, Joey anxiously fingered the duffel bag at his feet. He didn't want to go there, that much was known. Last night his father had ordered his teenage son to pack, and before the blonde knew it, he was riding beside his drunken father, praying to all the gods that he would not end up in an accident.

Luckily, his father seemed to be sober enough by the time the two entered the car, but his temper, like always, was horrifying. He hoped there weren't any little kids close enough to hear him.

Naturally, there wasn't a good reason for them to be packed into the under-sized station wagon. He certainly knew that his father wasn't getting a new job. He had been unemployed for years, spending all the extra money on alcohol, so he could have a good time with his 'friends'. Of course, Joey always found himself in the middle, and he was the life-size punching bag his father used in his drunken rages. It really wasn't fair.

So, at the moment, Joey Wheeler, professional duelist and a natural dumb blonde was worrying himself crazy about the aspect of where they where going. His friends didn't know that he had left, nor did they know about his father's drinking problem. If they did, they would never shut up. Tea, the only girl in the group and the dancer want-to-be would have worried herself sick and would have demanded Joey to do something. Yugi, the duel-monster champion would have been frightened silly and Tristan, like an older brother to the blonde would have gone to the broken down apartment where he lived and would have beaten the shillings out of the old man.

But of course, they didn't know, and Joey preferred it that way, but now a frightening thought came to the teen, what if they never returned from there expedition? What if he never saw them again? But of course, they weren't going anywhere permanent, even if his father was an alcoholic; he at least had enough sense to plan these things… right?

While Joey was debating the sanity of his abusive father's mind, the man in question broke into Joey's thoughts as he screamed louder than usual at a passing old woman, who almost lost control of her steering wheel. Joey felt sorry for the woman in question; his father was scary, even when he was half-sober.

His father, who was now cursing at a boy on a motorcycle, suddenly stopped in mid-swear and turned to face his teenage son, "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!" he yelled, half a centimeter away from the blonde's ear, he paused for a second, before he started to swear, even louder than the earlier screaming. Joey took this quite well, even though it was painfully obvious that he was scared out of his wits, not because of the old man's yelling (he did plenty of it at home) but at the fact that the driver's eyes were no longer on the road, and the fact that he no longer seemed to remember that they were in a moving vehicle.

The station wagon in question was starting to spin out of control, and his father didn't even notice. Joey was about to grab the wheel (not caring about the beating that he would receive later) when he noticed the same motorcycle that his father was cursing at earlier was right ahead of them, and before he could stop himself, he was yelling, "Dad, watch out for that bike!"

Thankfully, the gods where listening and his father turned back to the road and just managed to skid around the motorcycle, who cleverly enough, had driven expertly into a ditch. Of course, Joey didn't get out unscratched, even though his father was not yelling at him. He was cursing (in an even louder voice than normal) about the insanity of teenager bikers, and how they shouldn't be allowed to roam the streets. Of course, Joey had to disagree (mentally of course), insane, alcoholic old geezers where the ones that shouldn't be allowed on the street. But he didn't dare say it out loud, unless he wanted more scars to add to his very large collection.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

They had made it, if this was the place. It wasn't looking very good, or at least, expensive wise. The apartment his father had rented was more expensive than the last, and he had barely managed it last time. Working his butt off for hours at a time, Joey somehow had managed to earn enough money to pay for the rent as well as his own bills, and keep his father's drinking money high.

But it wasn't like they where going to be staying here… right? Joey was downright confused about the renting of the apartment, was his father planning on staying here… what where they doing here anyway? The boy believed it had to do with the booze, the only thing his father seemed to care about.

Amazingly enough, his father was even more sober than he had been on the trip… but that was most certainly not going to last long, for that Joey was sure. And sure enough, an hour after they had made it to the apartment, his father dropped a rather large pile of papers on the table, and left to go to a bar in the city.

Joey, out of curiosity that the pile of papers might help to answer his questions, sat down heavily on the table with a half-drunk bottle of coke, and began to mess with the pile of papers. Joey's 'dumb blond act' was merely an act, when he wanted to he could be relatively smart. Although, he was no genius, or even a star A-student, he could be in the high eighties if he wanted to. But with all his jobs, and his father's alcohol problem, Joey didn't have the time to do his homework or study for tests. It was going to ruin his chance of getting an elaborate career.

Not many people knew, in fact nobody knew. But besides his love for duel-monsters; he loved to draw. And after drawing, he loved anime, so his dream was to become an animator. It would be the perfect job, you wouldn't need a lot of smarts, and it combined two of his favorite things… it would be perfect.

But at the moment, Joey couldn't stop and dream of drawing as a career, so instead he absorbed himself with reading the pile of papers. The first papers where advertisements for apartments; his father had obviously picked out several and he most likely had just decided to stay at the first one in sight. The other papers had to do about… high school? Combing his rather long blond bangs back, Joey reread the top line of the fancy paper, wondering if some of his father's alcohol had made it into his drink.

"Dear Mr. Wheeler," he read out loud, "We have read your e-mail and have now transferred you child's papers to our school. We will be expecting him on the 6th of March. A schedule has already been written out…" his voice drifted off as he finished the rest of the paper. His father had transferred him to the local high school? That could only mean one thing… they where here to stay!

After experiencing a few moments of horror, Joey began to wonder how his father had done all this, being the alcoholic that he was. He must have wanted it so badly, Joey concluded, that he had managed to stay sober for more than a few hours so that he could fill out the paperwork. Joey never knew his father could be so dedicated… why did he want to move so badly?

Even if his father was sober when he had filled out the papers, it didn't mean he was in the right state of mind. Joey almost never saw his father sober, and when he was, he was still screwed up in the head. Moving here, wherever here was, was probably not for the right purposes.

The thing that puzzled that blonde the most was how he never saw it coming. Of course, his father had probably thought up the idea just the other day, but when his father was up to something, it was usually quite obvious… what was he doing yesterday? After racking his brains, he came up with the usual answers, school and his jobs. But his father had also abused him… he had probably signed the forms when the blonde was knocked out… go figure.

After drifting off in boredom, the blonde sat up with a start and let out a loud 'duh' before he ran to the phone. Just because he was in a different city it didn't mean that he could no longer call his friends! Excited for the first time that night, the blonde sat down on a rickety stool and began to dial out Tristan's number. It rang once… twice… and then there was a "This number is long distance, long distance numbers are not allowed in the apartment building, please call somewhere else," and then there was silence.

Disgusted, the blonde slammed the phone into its cradle and began to pace vigorously around the room. He didn't really know far away he was from his friends… the only good thing in the boy's life! After pacing around the room at least fifty times, the blonde sat heavily into a chair and decided to work on a drawing to get his mind of things.

On the rare occasion of when the blonde had free time, he used it to draw so he could better his talent. Some people say that you are your own greatest critic, and Joey agreed with that. But he was happy with his drawings, even if he was upset about everything else. The boy found a sharpened pencil and began to work on one of his unfinished drawings.

It was a picture of a motorcycle. The motorcycle itself was almost complete; all he had to do was the wheels. But there was the background that still needed to be done, as well as the rider. He worked silently for a few minutes; the only sound that could be heard was the light scrapping of the pencil. Most people would just draw circles for the wheels; but Joey knew better. He had to made it look like the wheels where turning, and two under detailed circles weren't going to cover that. He was almost finished with the first wheel before he heard a rather loud bang, sounding suspiciously like a slamming door. Standing up with enough force to knock down the table, Joey stuffed the notebook containing his artistic drawing into his duffel bag. Nobody knew about his artistic talent, and the last person he wanted to find out about it was his drunken and abusive father.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason why the blond stood up in such a shockingly manner. He was scared, and who wouldn't be if they knew there father had come home from another drinking session. He prayed to the gods as he tiptoed gently, hoping to hide in his room. Suddenly he realized that he didn't know where his room was. Cursing softly, the blonde decided to hide in the first room he found, which happened to be the bathroom.

Closing the door behind him, he stepped gingerly into the room. It was small and a rather bright white, but at least it was clean and sanitary. He didn't know what he would have done if he had found it too disgusting to use…

Naturally, his chief thoughts weren't about the state of the bathroom, it was about his father who had most likely returned from another stay at a bar. Sometimes Joey was lucky and his father just went to sleep on the living room couch, but other times his father went after him… and used him as his punching bag. He had scars from previous beatings… and he still had his bandages from just last night. It had hurt to walk, but he had forgotten about his sores after his new dilemma of moving.

Praying to the gods was an easy thing for Joey to do… he did it so often, it had become second nature. He was just about to ask god to keep him safe when there was a rather loud bang at the door, and then it opened in a rather jerking fashion. It was his father.

He was in his normal drunken state; wet hair, sweating face, horrible stench and a rather large grin. His hand was still grasping a beer bottle, and when the man lunged at the boy, the blonde gave a rather noticeable gulp. His father was bigger than he was, and a whole lot heavier. He never managed to get the man to stop, the alcoholic stopped when he wanted to… and one of these days Joey was worried that he was going to go too far.

The man managed to get a rather hard grip on his son's skinny chest. Gripping the boy tightly, the man pulled him out of the bathroom where he could have more fun. Dragging the boy uncomfortably across the floor, the drunken man dropped him to the floor in the largest room in the apartment, which happened to be the living room.

Before the blonde managed to get up, the old geezer jumped on him, pinning him to the ground before giving a hard punch to the face… and it had started. Joey was not doing a good job protecting himself; he was still injured from the other day. Dodging as many punches and kicks as he could (which wasn't that many) the blonde soon found himself on the ground; bleeding in several different places, and gasping for breath. The drunken man loomed overhead for a moment, before kicking the boy in the stomach, making it hard to breathe. Then he staggered off, probably to drink some more booze, or maybe he passed out and was asleep. It didn't matter to Joey, as long as he got a break. But he soon found out that he couldn't get up, and in less than a minute the boy had passed out.

**Hey people! Thank you so much for reading, please review! Points down**


	2. Around the City

**Hey people, thank you for reading and reviewing! The second chapter's up (Wahoo) and I have to agree… it's not the most exciting chapter ever but it shall get more exciting, I promise! But this chapter has to be in there or it will be really odd… and besides it was fun to write!**

**The responds to your reviews!**

**Kobear91: Thanks for reading and replying! And yes I am posting more; see I'm posting more now! I hope you like it!**

**Maelgwyn-violetstar: Thanks for reading and replying! And also for your criticism! First off… about Joey's thoughts… that's pretty much everything in here. You see the actions are his actions (no duh) and the background is his background (another no brainier) but the rest of it is mostly his insights on stuff. (Nods) However if you mean yelling and crying and depressing thoughts… well let's just say there will be plenty of that in later chapters! Oh and about the romance thingy… I knew someone was going to ask that! You see Joey can't have romance with another character (g/b or b/b) because the rest of the characters are somewhere in Domino city. There will however be some one-sided Ooc/Joey stuff. (Looks at the very long reply) That is very long (sighs) oh well, I needed to say it anyway. **

**And onto the torture of Joey Wheeler (scratches head) well not really, this chapter is kind of nice to Joey… god where did all my torturing talent go?**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 2: Around the City

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (Do you really think I would be sitting here in a really uncomfortable chair typing this if I did?)

It hurt all over. Now, Joey Wheeler was not the sort of person to complain. Sure, bruises bothered him and scratches could be dead annoying, but he never complained about something as small as that. Of course, he wasn't the type of person to complain about larger stuff either, in case his father decided to pop in and really give the blonde something to complain about.

So, as quietly as he could be, the skinny blonde sat up with a gasp as he began to leaf through his bangs. Nothing seemed broken, that was good, but his ankle seemed sprained. Groaning at his unfortunate health, the boy began doing his 'getting up' routine. Having been beaten up plenty of times in the mere past, the blonde had acknowledged the fact that getting up hurt… a lot. But he had to do it if he wanted to hobble his way into the bathroom and fix his cuts and hide his bruises.

After the fifth try or maybe it was the sixth, Joey managed to sit up, and then two tries later, he was up and kicking. He began to hobble his way over to where the bathroom was when it hit him like a ton of bricks… they weren't in there old apartment. After gently swearing about the misfortunate of moving, the blonde turned himself around and began to hobble in the opposite direction to where he believed the bathroom was… of course it was hard to tell due to the fact that he had been pulled into the room upside down, but he would manage, somehow.

After walking into two vacant rooms, and experiencing a moment of horror when he almost woke his father up, Joey managed to find his way into the bathroom. And with a fantastic boost of luck the blonde realized that his duffel bag was exactly where he had left it. After closing the door behind him, and experiencing a second or two of regret that it didn't have a lock, Joey hobbled over to the mirror, trying his hardest not to hurt his ankle any further.

Pausing in front of the mirror, the blonde began to untie his sneakers, and then he stripped himself to his boxers so he could have a full health inspection. His face was good, only a small bruise on his left cheek that could easily be hidden. His legs where pretty good as well; there where a few scratches here and there, and some of his old injuries began to bleed again, but the real damage to his lower body was his sprained ankle, he'd have to be careful with that. The worst damage was done to his chest and his arms. There where plenty of purple bruises dotted here and there, as well as some dried blood. His chest was horrible, molested with bruises and cuts; it seemed that Joey was going to have some more scars to add to his collection, w_onderful. _

After a moment of two of mental debate, the blonde striped entirely and jumped into the shower, turning it on lightly so it wouldn't disturb his father's well-needed slumber. Joey loved his father the best when he was sleeping, and even more so when he was out, preferably far, far away.

After taking off his old bandages, and cleaning out his cuts so they wouldn't become infected, the blonde began to re-bandage himself. It wasn't difficult at all. And luckily enough, the blonde had become neutral to blood, he didn't cringe at the thought of it, nor did he puke when he saw it. Sighing painfully, the blonde finished his so often repeated task. He reached into his first-aid kit (that was always on him no matter what) and snatched the ever-so-loved lotion that hid all his scars and bruises. He wouldn't be able to live without it… unless he wanted to go around with a paper-bag over his head. But of course that would be suicide wouldn't it?

After snickering at the sudden pathetic thought of suicide, the blonde checked his body again (and a third time just to be safe) and the inspection came to his approval. Not a scar or bruise in sight… thank the lord. Grinning in satisfaction, the blonde grabbed his duffel bag and began to search through it for a half-way decent outfit. He wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible, and head for the nearest coffee shop so he could wallow in self-pity. It wouldn't do to start getting all depressed in here… heck that would make it worse.

And besides, he should have fun before he has to go to high school. What day did he have to go back… the 6th? Frowning the blonde began to search for his watch, he was never good with time, or dates, perhaps that was why he did so poorly in Social Studies. How did they expect you to remember every single day when the armies went out to war, when battles were fought, and when someone died.

Snorting at his very small outlook of his countries history, the blonde found his watch and almost ended up with a seizure… thankfully enough all he did was fall off the seat and twist his already twisted ankle in an uncomfortable way. Today was the sixth? After glancing at the watch, praying to himself that he remembered the right date and glancing back at the watch just to be sure, Joey Wheeler let loose a loud string of curses that would satisfy Cid from Final Fantasy. 1

After letting loose a large amount of English swear words, and a few Japanese ones just to be safe, Joey Wheeler was about to run out of the house like the king of the underworld was chasing him (or in other less grand words; his father) when he took another glance at his watch and noticed that it was only 4:39 in the morning. Thanking the lords, the teen sighed wearily and vaguely hoped that he would never be late to school, he had learned a long time ago that teachers had sonar when it came to fake excuses.

But of course he had a few hours left to go, and after realizing that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, Joey Wheeler decided to head out into the city (with his backpack of course) and perhaps actually find out where the school he was attending was and maybe the name of it. And when it came to names… he didn't even know the name of the city they where in!

Sighing involuntarily, the blonde tiptoed past his father's room (in fact he tiptoed throughout the whole apartment just to be safe) and headed out of the apartment with a small gasp of self accomplishment. His father really scared him sometimes… well, actually all the time, and Joey never felt entirely safe when he was in the same god-forbidden apartment. The apartment building they where in was better furnished than there old one. It gave Joey a small pain of fear, because he would have to find some jobs fast if he wanted to pay off the rent for this place. He wondered, was his father so out-of-it that he didn't even realize that this was way out of there league? No wait… he didn't even want to know that answer of that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was nice and quiet outside, just the way Joey liked it. The blonde usually stayed out late, and then he would come out early, stopping by a coffee shop to buy a meager supply of breakfast before he headed out to his morning job before school. He hoped there were job openings that would allow a sixteen-year-old to work in the early hours of the morning; he had almost given up before he was granted that old job at the box-factory.

But at the moment all he wanted to see was an ever-so-common coffee shop filled with the delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee. He was addicted to coffee, perhaps in the same manner his father was addicted to alcohol. Unlike his father's alcohol, he would be able to live without coffee and it didn't turn him into a monster like his father.

The closest coffee shop was quite a distance away, but it looked friendly enough, and a bit old-fashioned, but that was good, they always served the best coffee. He stepped into the coffee shop gingerly, his ripped backpack thrown across his shoulder. The door was attached onto a bell, which rang sweetly and gave Joey a sense of homesickness. Yugi's grandpa's game shop had the same exact bell attached to it. He blinked for a second, trying to catch sight of the short spiky-hair kid that wasn't there. It took him a moment or two to realize that he was in a coffee shop, thousands of miles away.

"I'll take a cup of coffee," the blonde said frowning as he viewed the menu, "Normal coffee, no whip cream or nothing," coffee and whip cream was delicious in the teen's opinion, but he wanted to save his money and call his friends and his sister at the nearest pay phone in sight.

"Donut, croissant, or bagel?" the waiter asked as she scribbled something unrecognizable onto her notepad.

"No," he said as he shook his head, his bangs falling into his eyes, "I'm good," even though he was dying for something with chocolate, or with sugar.

She left with a nod, eyeing him with interest as she headed off to another customer… a beefy old man who smelled suspiciously like old turnips.

Sighing yet again the blonde adjusted his foot trying to make the act inconspicuous, biting his mouth hard to keep himself from spitting out a curse when he slammed it against the table… it hurt… really, really bad.

"Here's your coffee," the waiter said, approaching Joey from nowhere and causing him to jump and slam his twisted ankle… again. He was amazed that he managed to stop himself from swearing.

"Thanks," he said showing her the genuine Joey Wheeler smile as he flicked an annoying strand of hair out of his eyes; she smiled back as she headed over to the turnip man.

The coffee looked good, it was dark just the way he liked it and it smelled good, he had learned a long time ago that bad smelling coffee was a sign that the coffee probably tasted horrible. Taking an experimental sip, he smiled as he realized it was good and began to take larger gulps. He had to find out about any job openings, and about the high school… plus knowing the name of the city they were in wouldn't hurt either. He didn't have the time to sit around and ponder the unfairness of life, his favorite activity in the old coffee shop.

After paying the tip and rubbing his eyes (being extra careful not to rub the lotion off his face) he got the directions to the local high school from the waiter and headed out of the shop, taking a detour so he could avoid the old beefy man who smelled like turnips… and seemed to have a habit of talking to himself in a very loud voice.

There where more people on the streets, mostly middle-age citizens that where driving pickup trucks and mini-vans and where drinking some kind of contraption or another. There where no kids out, or teenagers (excluding himself naturally) but if he lived in a normal household, he would still be in bed snoring loudly and whispering something about Mai.

The lady in the coffee shop had said to turn right and then left and then pick the middle fork… but she had scratched her head several times and it took her several seconds (if not minutes) to come up with her assumption, so he wasn't sure if it was completely trustworthy. After pondering the woman's advice for several minutes he decided to just go with the flow and follow her advice… something he was going to regret later because whenever he went with the 'flow' he always ended up with a black eye or another bruise to add to his collection. But of course, getting lost in a city wouldn't cause him to receive purple bruises, unless he accidentally went onto a gang's turf and in the process, got the shillings beaten out of him.

Shaking his head to get rid of the unfortunate thought (which hopefully was not going to happen anytime soon) he pulled his backpack higher onto his back and headed off into the city… which the waiter had said was called Wadesville. 2

Thankfully the waiter's untrustworthy directions turned out to be correct, and Joey Wheeler found himself standing outside the Wadesville High School, several hours early. What to do now? He could head off into the city on an attempt to get a job, and hopefully not get lost in the hustle and bustle. Or he could stand here and be bored… he decided to go with the first choice. So, almost with regret… Joey Wheeler found himself going in the opposite direction of his normal route.

Who would be hiring? Hopefully plenty of people… who gave off plenty of money for sitting around and counting the ferns grow. Well… it seemed like McDonalds was hiring, and true enough it was, there was a large sign posted in the window that said "Help Wanted" well almost, it was missing the 't'. 3

Walking into it quietly (and trying his hardest to ignore his stomach's growling) Joey scratched his head and headed off to the counter hoping that they had jobs open at the mere hours of the morning… or sometime after school.

"I'm looking for a job," he told the cashier who had just finished ringing up a very pregnant lady and was accessorized with pimples and a frown, "The name's Joey Wheeler!" he said in an attempt to make the cashier smile, "And I see that your Jake!" or at least, the name on his shirt said that.

No nod, no nothing, "Do you have a manager or something?" more silence… was this dude dumb? "I'll just be asking the dude over there," and with that he slipped away, almost bruising his twisted ankle more than it already was before he asked the neighboring cashier who had short blonde hair and a smile (something that cheered up Joey) about job openings.

"Just go through the door over there," the dude (who's name was Andre) said with a recognizable French accent, "And look for the guy in the suit," and then he turned to the next customer, a lady in a business suit that looked like she had ants in her pants (or more correctly, skirt) as she quickly grabbed her order of shake and fries and ran out of there like the demon was on her trail.

Biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh (he had been late plenty of times… in fact he was usually always late and almost never early) he headed into the kitchens and found the man that Andre, the French kid was talking about. He was wearing a suit (something that bothered Joey… why would the manager of a fast food place wear a suit?) and looked entirely out of place with the surrounding college kids who where chatting about boyfriends and girlfriends, the problems with the economics class, and how the chili fries at the college were poisonous. Deciding he didn't want to know (in fact he didn't want to… he hated chili fries anyway) he went up to the man in the suit (who had a hot pink tie) and nimbly asked if he could have a job.

The man stared at him, turned to yell at a girl with dimples and stared at him again before he said quite icily, "You look to young to be in college, kid," of course that was probably true… due to the fact that he was still in high school and that he was a sophomore… but a little white lie here and there didn't kill anyone.

"First year," he said trying to make his voice lower and not laugh at the same time.

The man frowned at him, he yelled at a boy with a yellow bandanna and examined his fingernails (which were surprisingly dirty) and then suddenly remembered that he was there and frowned again.

"What are you studying to be?" the man said suspiciously.

"A… architect," Joey said smiley brightly as though he did it every day (in fact he almost did lie every single day) and then tilted his head at the manger, in a sort of childish innocence. The man frowned, yelled at three different people, and then motioned the teen to follow him so he could fill out the paperwork. Smiling brightly… the blonde teen followed and just managed to stop himself from cursing when a blonde girl (who looked even dumber than him) crashed into his twisted leg. It was going to be a long day.

**1 Something for all the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fans out there! And for any of you non-fans (Glares angrily) let's just say that Cid has a potty mouth. Oh, and I do not own Cid. **

**2 I don't think there is a Wadesville out there. But if there is a Wadesville out there, I do not mean to insult you. I'm sure that there are plenty of people there that are not old men who smell like turnips and college kids with acne and attitude problems. Oh, and if there is a Wadesville out there… I do not own it. **

**3 Why did I pick McDonalds? I hate that place! Perhaps so I could torture it? Mahahahaha! (Cough) What I really am supposed to say is that I do not own McDonalds. (If I did it would be an ice cream place and not a fast food junkie) **

**Wahoo, I finished my second chapter! (Does a jig) Please review peeps, it keeps me going all day, and it keeps me happy like sugar! Well, yllom21 signing off! (I always wanted to do that)**


	3. Troubles with School

**Wahoo! My third chapter is up! I want to thank everybody for reading and replying, and for all the wondrous complaints you gave me! And here is the reply's to your reviews!**

**Ryuu Soba: I know (Sniff) isn't Joey's father terrible! I want to jump in there and pound him to death myself, but that would ruin the story and we can't have that can we? Thanks for reviewing!**

**Ilikeyaoi: You see the reason why Joey is Joey and not Jounichi (Is that how you spell it?) is because I'm an American girl. Japanese confuses me. I have no clue how to spell it and I don't know everybody's Japanese name. Joey's is Jounichi (And I'm pretty sure I'm spelling it wrong) Tea's is Anzu, Tristan's is Honda, and isn't Serenity's Suzuki or something like that? And of course, there's the –san and –Chan business, and I don't know when to properly use it! If I tried to do it all correctly it would give me brain damage, and I really can't afford to hurt my brain any more than it already is! (Sigh) So that, my friend is why I stick to American names! Oh, and I'm sorry for that very long response, warning: do not give me chocolate when I am replying! And thank you for reviewing (grin) it made me all bubbly! **

**Onto the story! (Wahoo) **

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 3: Troubles with School

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (If I did, the American version would not be edited)

The school was huge, much bigger than the one back in Domino city. Joey felt apprehensive about entering the school; it seemed too big to navigate it correctly, and too large to get to a class in less than four minutes. Hopefully the lunchroom would be bigger as well, not as though it would matter. He was going to save today's lunch money so he could call his friends and his sister, Serenity.

He decided to go in, realizing that people were going to start looking at him weird if he just stood there, like a large gaping fish. Just getting to the door was difficult, there was a large plateau of stairs, and by the time the blonde made it to the top of the staircase, he was craving painkillers.

"Stupid ankle," Joey muttered as he reached a fork in the hallway… which way should he go, right or left? It would be amusing if he got lost at the first turn in the too-large-for-its-own-good building, well amusing that is, if it wasn't him. At the moment all Joey wanted to do was sit down on something soft and swallow a handful of painkillers, and some Advil to get rid of his rising headache, perhaps a Tylenol or two just to be safe

After flipping a coin, closing his eyes and pointing, and playing 'rock, paper, scissors' (a very difficult game to play by himself) Joey decided to go left and hopefully make it to the main office before he ran out of painkillers.

This high school looked better inside than his old high school. The paint on the walls was actually the same color and the lockers were all perfectly hinged. Joey felt like he was disturbing the peace. Walking hurt terribly, and it hurt even more than usual because the teen was making sure that his limp was hidden. Joey was just about to collapse when he noticed a bench and decided to rest there and dish out a painkiller. In the past he had twisted his ankle, and after pretending he didn't have one, and running around in circles in gym with one, Joey had ended up living off coffee for weeks because he had wasted all his money on painkillers. It looked like he wasn't going to be eating much this week; especially since he had to use some of his money to call his friends and his sister.

After swallowing the pills (and eating a second and a third before he could stop himself) Joey decided to head back to the main hall and go right, thinking that he should have reached the main office by now. The main office was always near the foyer, or at least it was in his old school, shouldn't it be the same here?

Deciding that going back to the foyer would be the best choice and hopefully less painful than climbing up to the second floor, Joey turned back. This school was very proud, or so it seemed. Besides the perfectly painted walls (his own schools changed from white, to brown, and then to orange) and the nicely hinged lockers (His own was so badly hinged, he felt like he was moving a rhino every time he opened it) there where trophies scattered on shelves and pictures adorned the walls.

Joey made it back to the foyer in one piece, one severely aching piece that is. He continued forward, noting that he had wasted fifteen minutes going down the seemingly wrong hall. Well, at least he wouldn't be sitting down watching the second hand move very slowly, even though it would have been less painful. But hey, the best way to cope with a twisted ankle was to get used to the pain. It was starting to irritate him, even though he had had it for less than a day.

A few doors down was the main office. After cursing softly so the secretaries wouldn't hear, and punish him before he had even started school, the blonde pushed the door opened and headed to the main desk, or at least, the one covered in so many papers it seemed like a mailman had come in and dumped his yearly load onto the table.

The secretary herself was not what Joey expected in this massive, beautifully furnished school. She was large, and for once Joey was not exaggerating. The makeup on her face was more than Tea ever used at her dance recitals (she had to put a lot on, or she would seem like a ghost on stage) and her hair was longer than Mai's and looked a horrible orange color, almost like her original hair color was black, and she had tried to dye it blonde.

"Hey sonny," the woman said a few seconds (although it seemed like minutes) later. She didn't seem to notice the blonde at all, and instead she turned her gaze onto her nail file, which she began to use against her very long nails. The teen's gaze went to her nails as he noted, quite precisely that they where longer than Tea's cat's claws, and she had never been de-clawed.

"I'm new here," Joey said as he coughed slightly in apprehension. He was starting to wonder if he had mistaken the head secretary for the head clown at a circus. In fact, now that he thought about it, a circus was traveling around Japan.

"Really?" she said as she finally took her gaze off of her nails and turned it to the teen duelist, her gaze only held for a second, just long enough for Joey to notice that one eye had blue eye shadow and the other had green, "I'll keep that it mind," and she turned her gaze back onto her nails, which didn't seem to get shorter at all, no matter how much she filed them.

Joey coughed again, flicked his hair out of his eyes and decided that no matter how fancy this high school was, there head secretary (if she was the head secretary, and not there to be in one of those gag shows that they showed on T.V.) was a joke. She would probably be better of in Antarctica, where there was nobody to bother her except the penguins, and Joey highly doubted that she would bother them.

Joey gazed around the office and then went back out into the hall to make sure that the door still said 'Head Office'. Joey was about to sit down and dish out his c.d. player, when another lady came into the office and sat down at a much smaller desk. It was a lot neater, and there wasn't one single jar of makeup on it.

After debating whether he should ignore this new secretary entirely and snap on his headphones, he decided to go over and tell her about the new student dilemma and pray to the almighty lord that she was not going to do something stupid.

"I'm new here," Joey said after he had gotten the secretary's full attention. She was a skinny lady, perhaps in her early forties with thinning auburn hair and a neat business-like dress. She wore glasses, and she seemed much more in place than the other lady, who still seemed to be giving her nails her full attention.

"Joey Wheeler right?" she asked as she dished out a folder, "Your from Domino City, correct?"

"That's right," Joey nodded as she opened the folder and stared to pile things neatly onto her desk, all which seemed to have his name typed correctly on it.

"Here's your schedule," she said as she paused slightly, pointing to one in particular, "We have a six day system; each day is a letter of the alphabet. A-F, understand?"

Joey nodded adding in, "Domino had a five day system, and it was numbers, not letters,"

"It's the same sort of thing," the lady said, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Dawn, "Gym classes are separated, boys together, and girls together," Joey nodded as Mrs. Dawn began to recite the rules, all of them from memory. His old school had separate gender gym classes. He could remember laughing with Tristan as they watched the girls, mainly Tea (there only friend who was a girl) do there sports on the opposite side of the field.

After she finished (and Joey thanked the lucky stars that Mrs. Dawn had let him sit down so he could rest his twisted leg) Joey headed off on a mission to find his locker, one that was not going to end well.

"2606, 2606, 2606," Joey muttered to himself as he repeated his locker number and noted sadly that he was still in the thousands. He was never going to make it to any of his classes on time, and his leg was really starting to bother him. Thankfully, he had noticed that he did not have a gym class on C days, which Mrs. Dawn has said was today's letter. But of course, he did have it on D days, which was tomorrow's letter.

He noticed in apprehension that there were only 5 minutes to go before the other students came in. He decided to stop and have another painkiller, knowing that the pain was going to go up when the students began to jostle him, and his twisted ankle wasn't the only thing that was going to hurt, he had other injuries as well.

Cursing his father (although not nearly as badly as his father cursed him) Joey noticed in defeat as he turned around a corner, that all the lockers in the one thousands seemed to be on the first floor, so that meant the two thousands were on the second floor. After sighing pitifully, looking around to see if anyone was there, and looking at the locker numbers just to be sure, Joey headed to the very large staircase as his leg started to ache, almost as though it knew he was going to pain it.

After sighing bitterly, Joey began his long assent, holding onto the rail hard, and praying to the gods that he would make it to the top before the bell rang and the students jumbled in, headphones blearing and voices screaming. He had had experience with kids knocking into him, sometimes hurting the body part that hurt the most, sometimes they didn't. But most of the time, his entire body hurt, although some parts hurt more than others.

After making it to the top and turning around the bend, the bell rang, and the screaming voices became suddenly louder. "It's going to be a long day," Joey said as he finally came to his locker, number 2606.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After storing his very small amount of schools supplies into his locker, Joey decided to find his homeroom and hopefully find it before the first period bell rang. The halls where thinning out, and to Joey that meant one thing; the bell to start homeroom was going to ring soon, and the small amount of people still trotting down the halls where either going to make it just in time, or be late.

All of them seemed to be in a hurry, which confirmed Joey's suspicions. A girl in particular was almost running, she was walking at such a furious pace, she seemed to be muttering to herself and when the blonde passed her, he found out that she was cursing her boyfriend for picking her up so late; very typical.

The bell rang, and a loud clamor erupted as everyone stopped walking at a luxurious pace and began to run towards there homerooms. A boy with black spiked hair laughed at an unfortunate girl who was running towards a room, her long blonde braid billowing behind her as he waved a yellow pass in her face. She turned an unhealthy color of scarlet, matching her red shirt perfectly. "Shut up Shawn," she hissed as she opened the door and walked into it. She wasn't worried about getting into trouble, or so it seemed to Joey, but she seemed rather mad at this Shawn kid.

"Hey kid," the brunette called out, and Joey noticed that his green eyes were pinpointed at him, "You new here? I've never seen you before,"

"What's it to you?" Joey called out as he scanned the doors to the rooms; he was getting awfully close to his number, unless for some reason they decided to skip him, which wouldn't surprise the teen with his unfortunate run of luck.

"Just asking," he said with a shrug, "What's your homeroom number?"

Joey wasn't about to tell this Shawn kid what his homeroom number was. There was something he didn't like about him. It wasn't the way he felt about his archenemy, Seto Kaiba. He hated that kid! He was a stuck up rich pompous jerk. In fact, Joey could spend an entire day spitting out curses at the C.E.O., and never run out of things to say. No, he didn't hate this kid, he just felt uneasy about him. Perhaps it was because of the scene he just saw, or the sneering tone the boy had, but Joey decided to stay away from him, especially because of his twisted ankle and his other various pains.

"What's it to you?" Joey said repeating his earlier comment.

"I could point you in the right direction you know," he said as he leafed through his spikes, making them even spikier than they where before, "This is an awfully big high school,"

"I can find it myself," Joey said as he leafed through his own hair. He was a number off, and then he turned around trying to spot the room number Shawn was hiding.

"This is room number 213," he said with a smirk as he shifted his hair, noticing where Joey's attention was.

Joey didn't believe him… 213? That was his room number! After gazing at his schedule just to make sure that it was his homeroom and not his Math classroom, Joey turned his gaze back onto Shawn.

Shawn had an awful smirk on his face, but now that Joey thought about it, he couldn't remember Shawn without it. He turned around and pointed at the room number, proving to the blonde that he wasn't lying.

"You with me?" he asked with an even bigger smirk on his face, "That's my homeroom. Mrs. Brandon is an old fruit,"

After frowning at the brunette and beginning to wonder why the boy would insult the teacher right in front of her classroom, Joey decided the best thing to do was to walk into his new homeroom, ignore Shawn and hide his limp. Heck, he didn't want Shawn to now that he had a twisted ankle… there wasn't something right about that kid.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So, you're the new student," Mrs. Brandon said smiling brightly as her thick spectacles slipped down her nose. She seemed to be eyeing him, almost as though she was weighing the chances of him being a good student or a bad one.

"That's right madam," Joey agreed with her, shifting his weight off of his twisted ankle, "I am in the right place… right?" It would be real embarrassing if he walked into the wrong room, not the best impression on the first day.

"Yes you are..." she said as she drifted off, she was searching through her paperwork, obviously looking for his name, or anything else about him.

"Joey Wheeler," the blonde said as he flicked a strand of hair out of his face, giving her his infamous smile. She grinned back as she found the slip of paper she was looking for; his grin could melt anybody, except for Seto Kaiba.

"You can sit anywhere you want. However if you disturb anybody, I will have to give you an assigned seat," she said as she pointed towards the desks, where the students were staring at him and whispering about the new student. All of them were staring at his face, and slightly embarrassed, Joey stared at his shoe so his long hair would cover his face.

"Thank you Mrs. Brandon," Joey said as he flashed her a smile ignoring the surprised look on her face because he had somehow knew her name, and headed to the back.

The room had about twenty desks and about a third of them where full; the walls where almost invisible behind the many maps and posters. Joey correctly assumed that the room was used for Social Studies; a Math room wasn't going to have posters about wars and poverty and pictures of places all over the world.

All of the students were staring at him, whispering frantically to there friends as they peered at him, trying to see past his long blonde hair. Joey's brown eyes stared back under his thick hair, wondering why they where making such a fuss. When new students came to his old school, nobody acted like this, or at least; his friends didn't.

After sitting down in a window seat so he could look outside and ignore the obvious looks of wonderment he was receiving, Joey set his binder down carefully and began to wonder when somebody was going to speak.

"Um, excuse me?" a girl said apologetically. She was a bit on the short side, and her short red hair was spiked; for a second, Joey though she was a guy, but after looking at her for a second, Joey realized that the speaker was indeed female.

"Yeah," he said flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes as he gave her a bright warm smile; she smiled back, revealing her boyish spunkiness.

"I'm Alexandra," she said with a wink, "Alexandra O'Neil,"

"I'm Joey Wheeler," he said winking back. "Nice to meet you Alexandra,"

"Please call me Alex," she said, as she grinned sheepishly. "Look, I know this might sound stupid, not that I really care… but are you Joey Wheeler, the Joey Wheeler the famous duel monster pro?"

He blinked at her for a moment, so that was why they were acting so weird! He hadn't even thought that being a duel monster champion was the cause of there stares. He was famous, and even though he was used to it by now, it still surprised him a little when they looked at him with awe. It made him feel funny inside. The blonde couldn't help but wonder... would they treat him any differently because he was a celebrity?

"Yeah," he said as he grinned sheepishly, "You've hear of me?" seeing her surprised expression (which made him chuckle) he pulled his deck out of his pocket and showed her his Red Eyes.

"Rule number one," he said with a grin, "Never go anywhere without your deck,"

"So you really are…" she drifted off for a second before she turned back into her regular spunky self, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Wheeler!" and with a grin she grabbed his hand and began to shake it.

"Nice to meet you to Alex," he said grinning back, "Do you have a deck?"

"I do," she admitted, "But I'm only a beginner,"

"Can I see it?" he asked as he watched her search throughout her many pockets on her kaki shorts. "Thank you," he said when she finally found it.

She had a good deck, nothing too expensive but her cards worked well together. Joey knew a few people who just bought powerful cards, but they were all different types. One of the many rules to building a deck was having cards that supported each other, and hers did.

"Nice deck," he said with a grin, "You seem to favor aerial monsters," and she truly did. All of her monsters had some type of wings attached to them.

"I do," she said as she fingered her red bangs, "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Joey said with a grin, "One of the rules to building a strong deck is making sure that your cards support each other. Having a few water monsters and some fire monsters isn't a bright idea. For instance, my friend Yugi specializes in magic,"

"That's good," she said with a large grin, "It makes me feel good that you complemented me since you're a regional champion, even if you are just being nice,"

"I'm being truthful," he said. "No really I am," he added when he saw her doubtful glance.

"So," he said as he scratched his chin, "Do you have a favorite card?"

"Aerial Princess," Alex said with a grin. "Toby says that she reminds him of me," and with that said she showed him her top card on her deck. (1)

Aerial Princess did remind Joey of Alex. The air monster had red hair like Alexandra's; the only difference was that Alex's was spiked. Her face was similar as well, both of them had spicy green eyes and they both looked spunky and boyish. Besides the wings, Joey would have thought that the monster on the card was Alex.

"She does look a lot like you," he admitted. "Who's Toby?"

"One of my friends," Alex said as she scratched her chin. "I can introduce you… in fact, I could show you around school if you want. I know it can be over whelming. I remember my thoughts when I entered this school for the first time last year, I was like, do they actually expect me to go to class to class without getting lost once? But eventually, I managed to get around without being too horribly late,"

"I highly doubt that will happen to me, I'm doomed to be walking these halls until I die," Joey said as he earned a laugh from the redhead, "I'd appreciate it if you showed me around, but don't make yourself late,"

"Na," Alex said with a smirk, "If I don't think I'll make it, I'll abandon you, 'Kay?"

"Ok," Joey said with a grin as the bell sounded throughout the building.

"Come on Joey!" Alex said as she abruptly stood up, grabbing her green binder and blue note book, "What class do you have first, and which teacher,"

"Um," Joey said as he struggled to remember, "Math, Mr. Riley,"

"Goodie!" she said as she stared off, walking fast as she dodged around people, something she was good at because of her lack of height, "I have Riley first too, come on I'll show you!"

And with that said, Joey trampled off after her, trying to ignore the pain in his ankle. He grinned, it seemed like there was somebody perfectly normal in this town!

**Aerial Princess is not a real card. She's just a monster I made up while I was typing this. So please, don't complain to me after you spend your money trying to buy it when it doesn't exist. **

**I want to thank everybody for reading and reviewing! They make me feel so bubbly inside! (Sniff) I'll update soon, I promise!**


	4. Issues with Math

**Hey people! I told you I'd update soon! Please read and review! And now onto my beautiful replies!**

**Ilikeyaoi: Thanks for reviewing again! And thanks for the heads-up. So Joey's Japanese name is Katsuya Jounochi. Katsuya, what a sweet name! Ha-ha, it's a whole lot better than my name! I hope you enjoy the next chapter. **

**Dreamer of Dragons: Thanks for reviewing and thank you for the wonderful compliments! I know (Puts hands up guiltily) you caught me red-handed. I'm horrible at there and their and where and were. I can never get them straight. (Smiles) But I am improving, or at least I hope so. So hopefully in the future I will correctly be able to use there and their and where and were. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 4: Issues with Math

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (Did you actually think I did? Heehee)

Joey had never been this bored in all of his life. Of course, there was the exception when he went to the doctors and he waited for over 2 hours just to find out that he entered the wrong room. There was the time that the roller coaster he was on broke down on the highest part of the ride and he had to wait for a chopper to bail them out. But seriously, how could math be so boring?

When he had entered the room, he hadn't been thinking about the issues with math, or anything about school at all. Alex had just managed to steer Joey into the room before the bell rang, a fete she was proud of because Joey had temporarily forgotten where his locker was, and there had been a holdup in the halls because a freshman decided to throw up. But when he entered the room, that all changed.

The first moment he saw Mr. Riley, he had mixed reactions. First off, the man looked more like a lawyer than a teacher. He knew that teachers usually wore fancy stiff clothes to school, but how many times had he seen a teacher write a math equation on the blackboard in a suit? Not very often, he thought. Alex had walked to her seat, which was in the second row near the window, and sat down like the math teacher always came to school in a suit. No big deal right? Wrong, how rich might this guy be?

After that, he assumed that this guy must be strict. Seeing somebody in a suit makes them seem all formal, fancy, perhaps stiff and arrogant it was if he was going to a wedding. Joey highly doubted that the man was going to a wedding. He was scribbling something on the board in chalk, and when Joey looked closer, he realized that it said "Homework: Pg 235, 2-50, evens". Not exactly what Joey wanted to hear, or more correctly have to do, on his first day of school.

"Excuse me, Mr. Riley?" Joey said hesitantly and in a quiet voice, praying that the teacher would hear him and the students would not. Their glowing eyes, some of them behind long hair or glasses, were all peering at him in the same dreary silent fascination that the kids in his homeroom were staring at him. It could only mean one thing, either student's at this high school took new kids very seriously, or they all recognized him as the duel monster champion… just great.

Of course, the entire time Joey spent noticing his fellow classmates' adoration; Mr. Riley spent ignoring him. He scribbled more stuff on the black board. Joey hoped dearly that it was not homework. He strained to look at the board out of the corner of his eye. He noted that Mr. Riley was now writing down equations, and was no longer scribbling down the day's homework.

Deciding that Mr. Riley's silence was a bad thing, Joey decided to remind his math teacher that he was a new kid. But before he could utter a word or figure out exactly what it was he wanted to say, the suit-wearing teacher waved impatiently and said in a surprising dull voice, "New student, I got it, sit down," and so he did.

He was glad that there was an empty seat behind his new redheaded friend, and he gladly sat down in it, trying his hardest to ignore the stares from his classmates. Alex, who had seemed to realize why the blonde was so edgy, pointed out that the boys senior gym class was playing soccer right outside the window.

"So, what do you think of dear old Mr. Riley?" she said with a chuckle. After hearing Joey groan she added in, "It's not what you think, I thought he was going to be strict to, but he's not". Joey wondered how a dude in a tie could possibly not be strict, Joey was about to question what the redhead meant, but Mr. Riley spoke out first.

"Good morning class," he said in that continuous dull voice of his. He was peering down at them through thick pebble-like glasses and his old face loomed large at them. Alex hadn't been kidding when she described him as 'old'. He looked old enough that he should have retired; in fact, he probably could have retired ten years ago.

The class didn't respond to his ever-so-friendly hello, probably because it seemed so routine. The class was settling down in comfortable position with notebooks placed carefully in front of them, almost like they where expecting to take notes.

"Let me take attendance," he said as he pulled out a notebook, almost dropping it as his hands shook.

"Shawn Bering," he said as he began to recite the names on the list. More out of curiosity than anything else, Joey peered at the kid who had said "here" in a sneering voice, it had sounded like the Shawn he met in the hall. He noted the spiked black hair and the sneer on his voice; it was indeed the boy in the hallway.

After noticing that Shawn was peering at him like everyone else, Joey turned his attention to the kids playing soccer outside. Hewondered if the brunette had seen where Joey's attention had been, behind his long thick hair.

Everybody (excluding Joey) answered 'here', the almost bald man blinked, "And it seems like we have a new student today". Joey blinked, hadn't he just told Mr. Riley that? "A Mr. Joey Wheeler, if I am correct in saying so,"

"That's me," the blonde said with weak smile, wondering if a shabby old man in a fancy old suit could be sarcastic.

"Yes it would seem so…" Mr. Riley started out, before he shook his head abruptly. Suddenly he said, "Back to the note section!" and he turned his head around and pointed out various things on the board. The students copied it down, eyelids fluttering as they tried there hardest not to doze off.

Joey was beginning to wonder how anyone could ramble on so long about the various uses of pi (1), when his eyes drifted off. He began inspecting his fellow classmates out of the corner of his eye, with his long hair shielding his face, of course. All of them where dozing off, shaking themselves slightly when they heard the sound of chalk scraping against a blackboard. They dozed off again after they had finished copying down the notes. Some people were not bothering to take notes at all, and were instead resting their heads, or in case of a brown-haired girl, doing her Spanish homework.

Joey was about to turn back and copy down the notes that the professor had scribbled down when he noticed a girl. She was beautiful! Her long shiny black hair went all the way down to her waist, and every single strand was combed to perfection. Her body was perfect, as her mini-skirt and t-shirt pointed out. Even though he couldn't see her entire face, he could see the pale perfect skin, and her small nose, causing Joey to guess that her face was just as flawless as everything else. Joey felt his face about to go hot when she twisted herself in her seat, and then Joey caught a look of her eyes. They where grey, beautiful grey and yet, Joey suddenly gained a hatred to the black-haired beauty.

The look Joey had caught in her eye had screamed about vengeance and ignorance. She was the type of person who always wanted her way, and when something became old to her, she discarded of it. Joey's feelings towards her evaporated, and now he felt that he hated her more than Seto Kaiba, and he hadn't even met her.

He hated Seto Kaiba, and yet, he felt different about this evil-looking girl, he felt like he loathed her! Although he would never would admit it, he respected the teenage C.E.O to a certain degree. Although the brunette always acted cold, like he owned the world, there had been a few times when his iron mask had failed, and the blonde had seen his true attitude. Kaiba had always said that when they got into sticky situations, and the blue-eyed C.E.O had somehow managed to get himself stuck in there at well, he always said that he was doing it for his company or for Mokuba, the two main priority's in the fellow teen's life.

But Joey was sure that Seto Kaiba did it for more than his company. When Tea had been trapped under the crane hadn't Kaiba helped? The outcome had nothing to do with Mokuba or Kaiba's company, and yet he had helped anyway! And of course, the blonde had seen the way Seto Kaiba was like to his younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba, and he saw that Kaiba could be a nice generous guy, but for some reason he was only like that to his brother. It was a pity really.

Even though Joey could spend hours cursing the billionaire under his breathe, he had never truly loathed him, he had only disliked him.

But he felt differently about the brunette girl in the front row, he loathed her, and for reasons he did not know, heck he didn't even know her name! He would have to ask Alexandra to tell him who she was, once they got out of math.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Hey, who's the girl with long-black hair that was just in our math class?" Joey asked as he leaned against Alex's locker, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He was surprised when Alex had somehow stood up in a sudden burst in energy and walked out of the door like she had been cowing down on sugar and had been squirming in her chair for the entire period.

"Valerie Dawson," the redhead said in huffy manner, not like her usually hyper self. She stared up at the blonde, almost as though she was testing him, "Why?"

Joey paused as he frowned mentally. How could he explain to his newfound friend that he felt a very bad vibe coming off the beautiful girl?

"There's something I don't like about her," Joey said slowly, deciding it would be best to tell the truth, honesty usually pays off.

"I agree," Alex said as she grabbed a text book off the shelf in her locker and slammed the door creating a very loud crash. She looked relieved about something.

"It's nice that one boy in this entire school has a clear head on these situations," she continued as she started to dodge around the bustling students, it was hard for Joey to keep up with his twisted ankle.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's just… every single boy in this entire school has a crush on her and they can't see what she's really like," Alex said in an angry voice as she began to swear, quite violently at her seemly rival.

"I don't like her, she's too big for her boots," Joey said trying to quiet the redhead down as he followed her down the hallways. They weren't in the same class next period, which disappointed the blonde. His class was on the way to Alex's and she had said, that she would drop him off.

"That's your history class," she said pointing to a doorway, "I'll pick you up when the period ends, wait for me," and then she was off, moving so fast that if Joey had blinked, he would have thought that she had disappeared.

Joey decided that the best move would be to go into the room and hope that the teacher was at least a little more exciting than Mr. Riley. He was one of the first people there, or so he guessed as there where only a few people in the room, and they were chatting to each other. Probably trying to squeeze in a few minutes of chat time before the bell rang. However they all ended there conversation (a few stopped in mid-sentence) and turned their heads onto the teen, recognition in there eyes.

After ignoring the awe looks of his fellow classmates, Joey headed to the front of the class to tell Mrs. Larkin about being the new student and to ask if there were seating arrangements. Mrs. Larkin's looked completely normal (or at least more normal than Mr. Riley at any rate). She was typing on her computer at a very rapid pace (perhaps a few seconds slower than Kaiba's typing pace). She still managed to be aware of his approaching steps because when he was an inch away from her desk, she stopped typing and turned to smile at her new student behind her scarlet red glasses.

"I'm Mrs. Larkin, you're Joey Wheeler correct?" she said but without waiting for his answer she continued, "I've heard rumors about you, they say that the new student is a famous duel monster champion. Have you been spreading these rumors or are they bogus?"

Joey licked his lips wondering how he could tell his History teacher that the rumors were 100 true. He would have never guessed how being a celebrity would affect him in his new school. His chief worry had been about hiding his scars. But now he completely forgot about his bruised ankle and decided to tell his teacher the truth.

"I didn't spread the rumors…" Joey said hesitantly, "But they're true. I am a famous duel monster champion. I never would have guessed that there reactions would have been like this," and then he gave her the Joey-Wheeler-Melt-All smile causing her tense attitude to drop.

She looked at him in the same manner the students did, causing the blonde to guess that this must be the first time a celebrity visited there school. Deciding to ignore her look (as well as his fellow classmates) he headed to the back of the room and dropped his books in the corner desk.

His conversation must have lasted longer than he had thought, or it had taken longer to find the room, either or the bell soon rang. The students talking immediately hushed and the sound of running footsteps could be heard as the door opened. Joey guessed that the girl at the door wasn't the one running since she wasn't panting heavily and he could still hear the heavy footsteps. There was also the small fact that the girl at the door was Valerie Dawson, and Joey highly doubted that she was running. In fact he was hoping that a teacher had sent her to Mrs. Larkin's room to get a book, but against his wishes she headed to the back of the room and sat down… right next to Joey.

After sending her an evil glare of death (he had had plenty of practice against Kaiba) the teenager found to his disappointment that she was looking the other way and was pretending to listen to Mrs. Larkin's long difficult speech about getting to class on time and about the rules against purses (Valerie had a bright pink one under her arm). She turned to the class and beginning a discussion about Adolph Hitler and how he used the Jews as his scapegoat for Germany's problems. (2)

Joey found that he could pay attention to Mrs. Larkin's discussion as she normally broke off from her discussion to explain theories with funny short stories. Most of the class was paying at least half attention, the only ones excluded from that group were the students that looked so tired they could drop down dead.

But the blonde couldn't help drifting off. His head was really starting too spilt into two and his ankle as well as his other wound were really starting to ache. There also was the eerie feeling of people staring at him. Joey was sure that everybody in the room glanced at him once, but it seemed that Valerie Dawson spent the entire History period staring at him and glancing away when he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.

After trying to listen the entire period (And only remembering that Mrs. Larkin had been talking about Hitler) the bell rang, and Joey sat up and walked out of the room faster than even Alexandra could have managed. But of course, he managed to bump his ankle rather hard on the door on his way out.

After waiting a few seconds (and hiding his face behind his long blonde hair) Alex popped out and Joey began to follow her rather bustling pace. She was talking at a rather fast pace and after hearing only half of her conversation, Joey managed to make out that she was talking about Shawn.

"Shawn's the dude with the black spiked hair, right?" he asked as she paused and began to gasp for breathe.

"Right," she nodded

"And what were you saying about him?" Joey pondered as they began there long descend down the stairs and Joey began to focus on stepping heavily on one foot and barely using the other and trying to make it seem natural. Joey managed to make it to the first floor unscratched, but he also managed to pick up nothing on what Alex had said about Shawn.

"What did you say about Shawn?" Joey said as he tried his hardest to keep a step behind Alex. She had finally stopped her rambling and she seemed to be in a better mood. But instead of answering his question, she flushed and pointed him to his next class, and before Joey could respond she had disappeared in the wave of students.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

A few periods later, Joey was ready to jump for joy when the bell signaling the end of the period rang. Grabbing his books and exiting in a rather Alex-speed way, Joey began to troop to where he believed the lunch room was. Before the period had started Alex had shouted to him over the clamor of slamming lockers that she was too far away (she was going to gym) to pick him up and show him where the lunchroom was and yet make it to lunch on time.

"Just go all the way down this hall and down the staircase and you're there," she said as she jumped from foot to foot, anxious to get on her way so she wouldn't get stuck having to do the ever so hated push ups.

"Right," he nodded as he watched Alex speed off to her gym class.

So that was where Joey was heading, trying to ignore the increasing growls that came from his stomach. He had just recalled that he hadn't eaten the day before, and since he hadn't had breakfast that day, he was literally starving. But he had to save his money. The little he had, he had to use so he could contact his friends and his sister. And besides, there were bills and his father's booze money to think about.

He jostled down the stair cases, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain that shot up his leg as he headed to the lunchroom. He mustn't think about lunch… he mustn't think about lunch… he mustn't think about lunch… scratch that he was hungry! After letting his stomach decide the decision over his brain (Tristan had always said he always listened to his stomach and never his brain) Joey searched around the large impressive (or at least more impressive than his last school's) lunchroom for Alex's recognizable flame-red hair.

He wasn't really expecting to catch sight of her small slim frame. She had said before she had run off in a very un-lady like manner that the reason why she wasn't able to pick him up was that she only managed to make it to the lunchroom on normal circumstances. "So," she had said with a wink, "Do you really expect me to be able to make it with you on my tail?" After growling at her (which only accomplished receiving a laugh from her) she had told him the directions to the lunchroom.

So, deciding to wait a minute or so before he properly searched, he headed to the drinking fountain to get a drink (what did you expect?) that would hopefully rid him of his dying hunger.

After waiting a little while (and receiving looks of astonishment when the other students near the drinking fountain realized who he was) he headed back into the rambling, bustling, screaming crowd and began to search for Alex's flame-red hair (which would really stand out in the crowd).

After searching and mumbling under his breathe, "Wow he's tall… did she just give that dude the finger… holy smokes she looks like she's in preschool," he finally caught sight of the redhead.

The girl was walking down the staircase with a scarlet binder the exact same color as her hair in her hand and she seemed to be in deep conversation with a girl who was keeping pace with her.

"Hey, Joey!" Alex cried out when she caught sight of him, running the last few paces as the girl behind her struggled to keep up, "This is Paige Walker!" she said as she pointed to the girl next to her who had a long brown braid and cerulean blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you Joey," she said with a certain awe in her voice which annoyed Joey to no end.

"Nice to meet you to Paige," he said with a smile, "But please don't act weird just because I'm a celebrity," Catching the surprised look on her face out of the corner of his eyes, he turned to Alex who had a beaming smile on her face.

"Come on Joey!" she said with bubbling enthusiasm that wasn't right, after one just came from Gym.

"The faster we get into line the faster we get our food!" and after grabbing both Joey's and Paige's arms she pulled them towards the very long line of student's, "I wonder where Evan and Toby are?"

"She's always like this at lunch," Paige whispered to Joey as she fixed braid, "I think it's because she has to be somewhat calm during class, she let's all of her energy out at lunch,"

"I do not!" Alex cried with indignity as she stamped her foot on the ground, "I'm just hungry that's all; pretending to pay attention in class takes away all of my energy!"

"Then why are you so hyper?" Paige asked with a glimmer in her eyes as the redhead struggled to properly answer her and not get herself sucked even farther into a trap.

"Ok, ok fine! I might be a little bit hyper!" she said glancing at Paige and adding as an afterthought, "And yes I said a 'little'. I'm nowhere near hyper! You've seen me hyper and you know how high I can get… hmm I wonder if they have any sugar cookies?"

Joey glanced at Paige before smirking, "You're hyper enough already, you don't need any more sugar,"

Alex glanced at Joey and then Paige before accusing, "You two are out to get me so you can tell your fellow aliens how to adduct me!" and then she turned to the lunch lady who was looking at her in alarm and said in a quiet un-Alex like manner, "Can I have a hotdog please?"

Joey burst out laughing, soon followed by Paige who told the lunch lady that she wanted a salad and receiving a "You're way to healthy, you're a kid remember?" from Alex. Joey calmly told the lunch lady to give him a hamburger as he followed the two girls wishing that the entire school day was as much fun as lunch.

**(1) Incase any of you guys decided to drift off into la-la land during math class; Pi is an irrational number (3.14…..) that is used in plenty of formulas. **

**(2) All of us do know about World War 2 right? Whew, you where all starting to scare me. Of course all of you know that Adolph Hitler was the dude that started the concertration camps. If you don't then… well, please go to school. **

**Hey people, remember me? I'm the annoying authoress who's trying to type a half-way decent story! I want to thank everybody for reviewing and reading! Please review! I'll give you a cookie! (Sighs) Aren't I pathetic? **


	5. On My Way Home

**Another chapter up! I hope you enjoy this one even though it's not the most exciting chapter ever. But it's going to get good! I can't wait to type up the next few chapters!**

**I want to thank everybody for reading and reviewing. Here are my replies to your reviews!**

**Ilikeyaoi: Thanks for reviewing again! The next chapter will be up soon, and it's going to be getting really good!**

**Kayrie: Thanks for reviewing! This story will be getting really tragic; it's good that you're enjoying it! And thank you for showing me some of my grammar mistakes! I try my hardest to edit it. (I edit several times) but I can never seem to edit it to my expectations, oh well. I'm sure that I used semi-colons in several places in which I was suppose to use a comma, or I used the wrong a comma when I should have used to period. Thank you for your help! I'll be sure to edit this whenever my English teacher decides that instead of criticizing our bad grammar, she should be teaching us to use it correctly. **

**Yumi-Wheeler: Thanks for reviewing! The next chapter will be good, I promise. And yes, I wish I could hit Mr. Wheeler over the head with a mallet, but that would ruin the story (sigh). However, I do promise that something bad will happen to Mr. Wheeler. I hate him!**

**And now onto the story! I hope you enjoy! Please review!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 5: On My Way Home

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (But when my friend rules the world, I'm sure he'll give it to me)

The streets were busier than they had been in the morning; more people were out consisting mainly of elderly people and mothers with small children. There were also a few middle and high school students running about, as they had just been let out of school.

Joey was probably the only teenager walking by himself. All of his fellow or non fellow classmates were walking in packs. The noise was uncomfortably loud, but the blonde easily ignored it as his headphones were securely locked onto his head and rock music could be heard blearing out of it if you listened closely enough.

The teenager looked like he was in a good mood as most high school kids were when school was done. But Joey was not in a good mood, he had done something incredibly stupid, even for him. And he was furious at himself, in fact he wanted to stop by a coffee shop and guzzle down a few cups of coffee while exterminating the life out of napkin.

He couldn't of course, as he was saving his 'coffee money' for the mornings and perhaps he would even have to skip that because his ankle was severely bothering him. He was craving painkillers more than he was craving coffee and that was saying something, coming from the mind of a coffee fanatic.

Joey was unable to shred a napkin into pieces. He would have probably used the napkin as a scapegoat for his problems. All the blonde could do was listen to the music blearing out off his headphones in an uncomfortably loud volume as he mused over the happenings of the day.

The day had started out alright. He had started out early as he wanted to travel as far away as possible from his alcoholic father. He had a cup of coffee and had gotten directions to the high school. In his spare time he had managed to successfully get a morning job at McDonalds. Then he had gone to school, managed to get lost and somehow managed to find the way to the office. There he had met one of the secretary's that had reminded him of a clown. But of course, a normal secretary popped up and pointed him in the right direction.

Then he had managed to find his locker (a fete that still surprised him). Later he made it to his homeroom in which he met Shawn and Alex. He had an uneasy feeling about Shawn, but he had struck it off with Alexandra who had volunteered to show him around the way-to-big-for-its-own-good school. Things had stared to get better after that, as Alex had introduced him to her friends at lunch; Paige, a cheerful smart girl, Toby, a football fanatic, and Evan, the dumb pretty boy.

He had pretended to pay attention in the last few classes before they were allowed to leave. Things had gone good if you count being stared at 24/7 good, in which Joey didn't. He had decided to ignore the stares a few periods before lunch, as every single class behaved the same. It was actually kind of funny. Of course, it would have been funnier if it was happening to somebody else. Since it was happening to him, it wasn't so funny.

After the bell rang something happened in which got Joey so incredibly mad that he could probably have outwitted Seto Kaiba (well, most likely not, but it was a good thought). Joey had managed to be dumb without even trying. Curse his blondness!

Joey had headed to the foyer in an incredibly excited mood, as this part of his day was going to be the spotlight, he was certain. He would finally be able to contact his friends and sister! Sure Alex was great, but he missed his friends, the ones back in Domino. It was great that he would finally be able to contact them!

He was in such a good mood that he managed to ignore the pain creeping up his leg and the other parts of his body as he headed down the hallway towards the foyer. He had earlier said goodbye to Alex, Paige, Evan and Toby who each had an assortment of things they had to do. Alex had to go to karate, Paige had to go to Drama, Toby had to go to football practice and Evan was heading home. He had told them that he had to go immediately since he had never been able to finish unpacking (in fact he still didn't know where his bedroom was). He wanted to make the call to his sister and friends in private; it was just something that he wanted to do alone.

Excited for the first time that day (after all, why would he be excited to go to school)? He patiently waited for a tall senior (or at least, he looked like a senior) who was talking to his girlfriend. Joey figured that she was his girlfriend as he said 'sweetheart' plenty of times. Either that or he was very affection with his mother.

After the senior said goodbye (and stared at Joey with awe) Joey took a few quarters he had saved from lunch and inserted them into the pay phone. A few coins later there was a dial tone and Joey stood there sucking his breathe as he waited for his friend, Tristan, to answer. He knew that contacting Yugi was difficult as he lived above a store. Tea had dance practice on Mondays, so he knew she wouldn't be there. So he opted with Tristan who was most likely to be there to answer.

After letting it ring a grand total of seven times, he suddenly remembered that since he had just been set free of the teenage torture center, Tristan wouldn't have been able to make it home yet. In a temper he left a message telling Tristan that he had moved and that he would contact him later. After biting his lip violently so he wouldn't let loose a loud sting of curse words that would give him detention for years to come, Joey began to wonder if he dare chance it with Serenity. Since he was in Japan and she was in the States their time zones where way off, heck she could be sleeping at the moment! (1)

After deciding that he would chance losing a few quarters and a lovely cup of coffee, the blonde inserted the coins into the machine and waited. After it rang eight times, the answering machine popped up and Joey left a similar note that he had left Tristan, he had moved and he would contact her soon, hopefully.

After making the calls, Joey had swung his backpack onto his shoulder with enough energy to knock Yugi flat and headed out of the school in a much worsen mood than he was when he had headed in.

So that was how dear sweet old Wadesville found itself in the presence of a furious young Mr. Joey Wheeler. Of course, nobody knew it was Joey Wheeler as the blonde had taken precautions so that he wouldn't find himself in the same situation he had been in earlier that day. He had pulled the hood of his sweater up over his head which covered his head, hair and headphones.

That didn't ease his anger, as he furiously wished he wasn't a dumb stupid blonde! He had wasted money that he could have used later to call his friends at a more appropriate time. But he had been stupid accidentally! Of course, that happened plenty of times to the blonde. How many times had he forgotten to duck under a doorway that he had just previously whacked himself in the head? How many times had he tripped over the same fallen branch? It was countless really, its numbers reaching into the thousands! But this was an important issue, and he had been stupid again!

He decided to pause someplace and do his French homework before going on a wild search in an attempt to find an after school job. He figured that it would most likely end up fruitless.

He had had a study hall that day, in which he managed to complete his math, science and history homework and yet fool around with Evan. They laughed at an unfortunate boy who had just realized that he had taken a take-home test that was suppose to be done in pencil in pen. It had been amusing really, but yet now that Joey thought about it, how many times had he used the wrong writing utensil for homework or for a quiz? It was as countless as the amount of times he had tripped over various stable objects. In which was a pathetically high number if Joey ever took the time to count them all. Which he never would do, he had enough trouble trying to figure out what the answers to his math problems. When he wasn't wasting his brains trying to figure out the impossibly hard homework, he was either hiding from his father or just mussing about his difficulties in life.

But at the moment, all Joey was doing was mussing and craving chocolate, painkillers and coffee. It was nice taking a break from school, even though he was still furious at himself. But of course, no matter how angry he was or how badly he swore (mentally of course, there were children there!) it was never going to change the fact that he had done something incredibly stupid, even for him.

So after having a rather rough mental debate, Joey voted to let his anger cease; something good indeed, because a mad Joey was never a good thing. After he walked down three streets humming to his music all the way, his anger began to cease. Joey opted to begin his French vocabulary which hopefully was not going to cause his head to spin.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

His French homework was relatively easy, something that cheered the blonde up considerably, although he was still highly cranky. All he had to do was define ten vocabulary words, an easy enough task. But it did take a while to complete as Joey was beginning to space off, not even blinking when some middle school kids threw a Frisbee his direction.

However even though he didn't blink, his instincts did come in handy. Joey was easily able to catch it and throw it back, while still pondering his current development. He had stopped worrying about his payphone issue. He had, at least contacted them, even though he wasn't able to converse with him. It could have been worse, which was Joey's motto in life. It could always be worse!

Things were really starting to stretch thin, and Joey was beginning to worry, although his hidden face didn't show it. He had to get at least one more job, perhaps two if he could swing it. He already had a morning one, those were usually the hardest to get, he was lucky that the manager there had an empty shell. That was something to look forward too. Getting an afternoon job would be difficult. He had only found out previously that day what the name of the city he was in was called, and he still couldn't remember anything about it!

Do to fame; Joey had traveled quite intensely all over the world. So shouldn't he recognize a town in his homeland country? It would seem so, but from all of his traveling (which was usually unexpected) Joey couldn't remember ever traveling to Wadesville or anywhere near it. It was a dilemma in itself.

That didn't change the fact that he was there with no notice. He had to get a job soon unless he wanted to be kicked out of the apartment with an extremely furious father right behind him. Who would probably give him the beating of the century, not something to look forward to, I ensure you.

But Joey pushed all that away (It could always be worse) and shoved his French book into his backpack right next to his duel disk. After zipping it up, he headed off in a random direction.

Some little kids began to run around yelling so loud that he could hear it over his music. Joey guessed that the elementary school had just let out, either that or a very large group of kids decided to skip. It would have been funny if they had. Joey guessed that that was not the case as they passed (screaming in a very rude way I might add) two police officers who were eating donuts, very typical indeed.

Joey walked away from the uniformed men his stomach craving food all the way. Joey came upon a Grocery Store that was large, larger than the one back home which was saying something. Cars were backing in and out, honking loudly as they all wished to get out as soon as possible. It made Joey chuckle. Some people these days were so stupid, even stupider than he was and that was really saying something.

But it was not the honking or the size of the building that made Joey pause in the first place. Grocery stores were the best place to get a relatively late job, not very late or Joey would never wake up. If he could swing a job here, it would be easy enough to get an after school job. They were easy enough to get, in fact… he probably could swing a job after school without lying, it would be a miracle.

After spending less than two seconds deciding whether he should enter the massive grocery store, he entered it. It seemed even larger inside, if that was possible. But even better than that, it smelled wonderful! There was a wonderful scent of coffee (his favorite), chocolate, bread, pastries and about any other food out there that has a scent. It was enough to cause a person on a diet to go into frenzy. The bad thing about it was that less than two seconds after he entered, his stomach began to growl so loudly that for a second or two he began to wonder about yelling, "Bear!" He realized in enough time that it was his stomach and not a large furry mammal that was making the noise. Thank the lord.

Whether it was bear growling or his stomach, Joey still knew that he was starving. For a second or two, he debated going outside and trying to get a job somewhere else, but he decided against it. Ignoring his stomach, he headed further into the store on a quest to find the manager or anybody else that seemed important.

After circling the store 3 times (and was almost persuaded to buy a glazed donut) Joey was no closer than finding the manager than he was finding the Easter Bunny. He had just finished circling it a fourth time when an elderly old man wearing a scarlet red apron caught his eye. There was more to his apron that the other workers, and after squinting, he managed to make out the word "Manager" scrawled neatly on the man's uniform. He had finally found the manager!

After staring at the man for over a minute, the blonde deciding that unless he approached him, he was going to be standing there (looking like a gaping fish) for a long time. After coughing and putting on a fake mass of happiness, Joey headed to the man. His hood still covering his face incase the man was a fan of duel monsters, you never knew these days.

"Excuse me, sir," Joey said as he watched the old man. He looked normal enough, thank the lord. Like any normal old man his hair was half gone, and the parts left were as white as snow. His large glasses were slipping down his nose in such a way that one normally saw on TV. He turned around the second he was questioned and critically stared at the young teen.

"Yes, young man?" the man said in such a way that Joey thought he had did something wrong.

"I'm here to get a job," Joey said as he shifted from foot to foot, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, "A night one if possible,"

"Are you in college?" the man asked suspiciously, "You look like a high school kid to me,"

The teen look at him in a way that said 'You actually think I look like a high school kid?'

"I'm in college," Joey said in such a manner that it would be hard to lie. Joey was the best of liars; he lied every day of his life.

The man in question nodded in satisfaction.

"We have a shift from 9 to midnight open," the man said as he led Joey into his neat office. He shoved a difficult looking form into the blonde's hands, "Fill this out and it's yours,"

Joey thanked him (he did it twice for good measure). He filled out the form which caused him to get such a headache. He then headed out of the store, buying a bottle of painkillers on his way.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Joey walked back to were he believed his apartment was in a very good mood. He had decided that he would call his friends at the first payphone in sight (he would never use the school ones again; they were cursed). But naturally his good mood was not going to last long.

Joey had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, it wasn't nervousness, or so he thought. It was more like something unexpected was going to happen. Deciding to ignore it, he snapped his headphones back on and turned the volume up so his music successfully covered up any surrounding sounds. The third song was almost done with when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw the last person he wanted to see, Valerie.

Deciding that politeness might help somewhat, Joey turned off his c.d. player and snapped off his headphones.

"Yes?" he asked making sure his hood still hid his recognizable face.

"Hi, I'm Valerie," Valerie said with a cheerful smile that did not match her eyes. She looked as evil as ever, if 'evil' was the correct word to call her.

"I'm Joey," the blonde said with impatience as he stared at the beautiful brunette. It was time to get out of here, "I have to get going, I'm already late," Joey said, and with that he headed back to where he believed his apartment was. As he walked, he fiddled with his headphones.

"Joey, you're the new kid right?" the brunette said catching up to him with speed he didn't think she possessed, "I thought I saw you in math,"

"Yeah," he said in the same annoyed voice, as she didn't seem to posses the ability to leave people alone, "I really need to go,"

"That's ok… I'll walk with you!" she said with a sort of Alex-cheerfulness. But Alex's cheerfulness was real, this Valerie was a fake. Just because he was a blond it didn't make him stupid! Well, maybe it did… but at least he had enough intelligence for situations like this!

"I wouldn't want to bother you," the blonde said with haste, maybe if he started to run he could get away, "I'm fine on my own,"

"I just wanted to offer you some help," Valerie said with a large smile on her beautiful face, "You're new after all,"

"What type of help?" Joey asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing although his hood and bangs hid them from view. He didn't trust this girl.

"I could show you around," Valerie said as she began to walk faster so she could keep pace with Joey, "Perhaps we could go out together sometime,"

Silence, complete utter silence and then, "Did you just ask me out?" in such a loud voice that it could awaken the dead.

"Well, yeah, you're pretty cute," she said with a flutter of her eyelashes, "What do you say?"

Although Joey was slightly flattered that such a pretty girl called him cute, he didn't take her seriously at all. You didn't have to be a Seto Kaiba or a Rebecca Hawkins to figure this one out. She only wanted to date him because he was Joey Wheeler, a celebrity. It had happened plenty of times before, fan girls wanting to go out with him because he was Joey Wheeler. They wouldn't care a penny about him if he wasn't famous. It was kind of depressing really. Sometimes Joey wondered if some of his friends were only his friends because he was Joey Wheeler. That was why he stuck with Tea, Tristan and Yugi, because they had been friends with him before he was famous, and heck, Yugi was even more famous that he was!

"Sorry, I have a job," Joey said in the most apologetic voice he could muster, "Perhaps some other time?"

Another silence, and then Valerie shrieked in such an un-lady like voice, "Did you just say no?"

"Not necessarily," Joey said wondering how Valerie could be so vain that she expected a yes every time, "I'm just busy that's all,"

She glared at him and left in a huff, her miniskirt and hair whirling in the ever so increasing wind. Joey shook his head thinking how she was a female version of a friend of his, Duke Devlin, except for the fact that Duke was nicer.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Now that the time had come, Joey had wished that he had decided to stay out later. Although many would differ, Joey hated someone even more than he hated Kaiba, and he loathed someone more than he loathed Valerie; his father. In fact, now that he thought about it, he probably hated and loathed his father more than he hated and loathed Kaiba and Valerie combined, and that was truly saying something.

He had gotten a tad bit lost on his way back to his apartment (he spent twenty minutes walking down the wrong road before he realized his mistake). He had managed to make it back to his new home, safe and sound. He had then spent five minutes trying to remember his room number and then another ten minutes going up the stairs because the elevator was broken. And after that he had spent another ten minutes walking down the wrong hall before he realized his mistake. At the moment he was losing another four minutes (going onto five) because he was staring at the door and wondering if his father was home yet.

He stared at the door for another three minutes. He headed in, taking his shoes of with an even more graceful ease than Yami Bakura could have even managed. It was silent, dead silent, so silent that Joey was beginning to wonder if he had died and he was in the after life. After pinching himself (and suppressing an 'Ow') the blonde convinced himself that this was not the case and headed further into his new home, wondering were his room was (if he even had a room).

He hadn't spent much time investigating the apartment, except for noticing its upper class quality. Joey was taking his time now as he headed down a random hall hoping to enter an empty bedroom and not one that his father occupied (that would be suicide).

He was just about to check the living room, when he was punched severely in the back. He tripped over his feet and fell to the floor.

"Thought you could avoid me did you?" the culprit snarled (who turned out to be his father, not to Joey's surprise). He began to swear and curse the existence of his son. Joey was beginning to wonder if he could sneak away quietly while his father was having a swearing conversation with himself. When the old man turned around and grabbed Joey by his sweatshirt, punching him in the eye with such ferocity that was bound to leave a black eye. Joey unsuccessfully managed to hide his gasp as his father began to abuse him again. It wasn't until his father picked him up and threw him into the wall that Joey lost conscious.

**I'm not sure if Serenity lives in the States and I don't feel like looking it up. But if she doesn't, just pretend that she does. I am the author after all, what I say goes!**

**Please review and reply peeps! The reviews make me feel all bubbly, and I am in the mood for a bubble bath! So please review and I hope you enjoy the story! I'll update soon! Bye-bye for now! **


	6. Visiting the Hospital

**Hey Peeps! This chapter begins the excitement! Oh, the next few chapters are going to be great! Keep the reviews coming folks, they keep me happy! Just like sugar!**

**Note to all readers: Hey, I'm pretty sure the rest of you are also getting to the end of the school year right? Exams start for me on Thursday, and they don't end until Wednesday! It'll take me a bit longer than normal to post the next chapter due to the fact that I have to study! Wish me luck! And as soon as the exams are over I'll start writing the next chapter! I'll post it as soon as possible!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 6: Visiting the Hospital

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (If I did, it would be screwed)

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and before Joey knew it three months had past since his arrival in Wadesville. Much to his surprise as well as Alex's, it took him less than a month to memorize his way around the school building and things were going well. He had become good friends with Alex, Paige, Evan and Toby, but he still missed his friends at home.

It took him a while, but he finally managed to contact Tristan as well as Serenity. They had been confused about his sudden disappearance. They didn't understand why his father would suddenly decide to move away. He had told them that it had been an emergency. He wasn't about to tell his friend's that his father was a drunk.

Just like his friends back in Domino, his friends here didn't suspect a thing. Perhaps he should think about going into acting, after all he was a superb actor. But he still wished to be an Animator and he didn't need the extra fame being an actor would bring him. Being a duel monster champion was more than enough.

However things weren't always a pile cherries. His father's constant abuse was getting worse and worse. Joey was really starting to panic whenever he thought about going home. Previously, while he was in Domino, the abuse wasn't every night. Now it was, ever single night. When he made it home after his night job at the grocery store, his father was always there waiting for him, with a horrible stench of beer on his breathe. How his father managed to figure out that his son came home at the exact same time while severely boozed, Joey would never know. But he did know that he was drinking more, as there money was severely going down the toilet and his father's rages were becoming worse and worse.

There were problems outside of the apartment as well although Joey didn't worry about them to much. His jobs were easy and they paid pretty well. The one in the morning at McDonald's was fun. He seemed to make a friend with Andre, the friendly cashier. His after school jobs were fun to, and Joey managed to make enough of an income to pay the rent, just enough though. He had finally been forced to give up coffee as well as painkillers.

School wasn't that big of a deal either. Sure it was boring, but that's the common thought most teenagers have over what they call the Teenage Torture Center. His friend's really helped pull him through most of it. Alex's daily sugar highs became a normal routine, like brushing his teeth. Paige had a habit of bringing a book to lunch and fighting furiously with Evan when he tried to steal it. Toby was trying to learn Duel Monsters along with Alex. The two of them were good, not national level or his level but they were better than some he had seen. Then there was Shawn and Valerie. Shawn's attitude was not as nearly as bad as it had been in March. He was now quite tolerable, unless you pressed his buttons. Who was tolerable when there buttons were pressed anyway? He had even seen Yugi mad once. Some of the school bullies tried to steal his deck and split it among themselves. They thought that since Yugi was the supreme champion, he would have some good cards. The shocking thing was Yugi's attitude. When his deck was stolen he seemed several inches taller and he actually yelled at them and even more surprising, uttered a cuss word! Before anybody could recover from there shock, Yugi turned into the Pharaoh who mind crushed the bullies and stole back the cards that had been stolen from him.

Shawn could still be annoying and he could still be a sarcastic jerk, but compared to some other people, he wasn't half bad. However somebody who had earlier been annoying Joey was still doing it constantly. Valerie was her name, the classic prep. She seemed to think that Joey would eventually date her. Joey's heart belonged to a blonde girl who was currently traveling throughout the states. And even if she loved somebody else, it helped him say "No" every single time. Although the two of them didn't know it, neither of them were a burden to the blonde.

The only things that worried the blonde were, if his friends would notice his abrasions and what would happen when he went home that night. It was the constant thing on Joey's mind. He heavily flinched if anybody touched him a certain way. They didn't notice it and if they did, he told them he had sunburn. Even though his twisted ankle had somewhat healed, in still hurt whenever he stepped on it. He was slightly worried that if he put to much pressure on it would snap and then he would in serious trouble. He didn't have the money and he didn't want any doctors examining it. There minds would have to be full of fluff for them not to notice at least one of his scars. Even an average doctor would realize that he had way too many scars for common accidents.

So his main worry was always about his father's abuse. It was a shame really, that such a wonderful young man had to be kept down in such an expositive way. Joey didn't complain, imagine what would happen if he did.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The student's at Wadesville High School were beginning to get excited. Only two weeks left and then exams start and after that was summer! Which was everybodies, not just teenagers, favorite time of the year.

Alex seemed more hyper than usual; the summer heat was getting to her. She was screaming down the halls, yelling things along the lines of "Hurry Up, Paige!" and "We're going to be late, and when we are I am so suing you!" The three boys in the group; Joey, Evan and Toby were walking down the halls in a more luxurious pace.

The heat was getting to Evan as well, but not in the same manner as Alex.

"I am not running in this heat!" he complained half-heartily knowing that if he didn't run, the penalties would be a lot worse.

"I think there's a breeze out there," Toby remarked as he glance outside hopefully as the trees, "See the trees are quaking,"

"I'm with Evan, I'm not running," Joey said as he swept his hair back followed by Evan who did the same movement. Both of them had rather long hair for boys although it wasn't long enough to be considered long. The only difference in there hair was that Evan's was a chestnut brown and was tied in a ponytail and Joey's was blonde and successfully covered half his face.

"Then you should cut your hair," Toby said with a smirk as he patted his hair which was cut so short it was almost invisible. He looked a lot different that the other boys who were both amazingly pale and untouched by the sun's rays. He had olive-dark skin which only got darker with the sun's influence. "And you think you have it bad. I have football practice today, in pads and everything!" said Toby.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Where are you shorts?" Evan whispered to Joey as a loud "One, Two, Three," was chorused around them as the boys did there daily pushups. The girls were on the other side of the field and were doing jumping jacks. Even with the distance Joey could spot Paige and Alex who had the same gym period as them. Alex's flame red hair was unmistakable and Paige was wearing a hot pink shirt.

"Forgot them at home," Joey whispered back as they reached the twenties. Evan as well as Toby shook their head's sympathetically. After all the two of the where wearing shorts and muscle shirts trying to make themselves as cool as possible.

As soon as they made it to fifty, their teacher let them take a break as even he was affected by the heat. Thankfully, the boys ran to the drinking fountains, budging as much as possible. The girls were still on the opposite side of the field bending over boxes and removing bright colors from them. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were about to play.

"The girls are playing flag football," Toby said as he watched them take there positions, "I wish we were playing football,"

"Are you kidding?" Evan said with disbelief as he looked up from the drinking fountain from which he was taking a long sip. "Football is so tiring, and in this heat?"

Joey had to agree with Evan as he took his drink from the fountain, "Have you ever seen the football stars on T.V? They sweat!"

Toby had to roll his eyes at his comrades. The two of them weren't nearly as interested in sports as he was. Neither of them was as good at football as he was. They were too scrawny and thin to be able to plow there way through anything.

"You two are lazy!" he said as the walked back to the benches.

"Not lazy," they both chorused together, "We're just conserving our energy,"

Toby just rolled his eyes again and began to wonder if he should try and train his smaller friends in football.

Luckily for Evan and Joey, their Teacher announced that they were going to play kickball. And even more luckily for them, they got assigned to kicking, which meant that they got to sit down on the nice cold benches.

"Couldn't we have sat near the front?" Toby asked as he heard there teacher yell "Second out!" as a slightly obese kid walked back mumbling that he was sorry and whatnot. At this rate they wouldn't be able to kick, or run around the bases, or exhaust themselves doing useless activities.

"Nope," they both sleepily as Toby turned to them in aghast, "Are you two falling asleep?"

"No," Evan muttered, but as he glanced at Toby's face he added in," Maybe… Yeah,"

"You two are worthless," Toby said with a roll of his eyes as he watched a boy scramble to catch the flying ball and get hit square on the head.

Joey wasn't listening to there conversation as they began to argue about sports. (Although Evan hated football, he loved swimming as he could get exercise as well as stay cool. The pool he had wasn't heated.) He felt drained of energy and severely sick, almost so that he felt weak. As the next person was called to the home plate, Joey slid down the seat and realized in panic that something was wrong with his leg, it hurt worst than when it had been twisted! In panic he pinched it and realized that he couldn't move it without pain. He thought back and wondered why it was like that.

Early that day, Joey felt completely normal. The abrasions he got last night did hurt much as well as the black eye that took plenty of lotion to hide. He had been in a good mood nonetheless. His job had been good and he had made it to school early enough that he managed to witness Paige chase Evan all the way around the school and back when he had 'accidentally' grabbed her book. Classes were boring as usual, but now that he thought about it he could remember something that happened right after French. He had been happy to get out of French do to the fact that they had their Orals that day as well as the next. Their teacher picked random people out of the hat, and good enough he managed not to have been picked that day, he still had a day left to study.

Of course, that was it! Right after French he had accidentally met up with Shawn. Who it seemed wasn't in a good mood as one of his friends had taped a "Kick Me" note onto his back and a tall senior had honored his request. "Beat it Wheeler!" he had growled like an angry bulldog and had furiously kicked Joey's previously twisted ankle and slammed into him causing some of his injuries to break open. He had to visit the bathroom before anybody noticed and bandage his wound. And unfortunately enough, he had been late to Study Hall and almost earned himself a detention. Luckily his teacher was conversing with his daughter who seemed to be going into labor.

It must have caused his ankle to become injured again, and for some reason after the vast amount of pressure, it broke. Besides that he felt lightheaded and extremely weak. Why did he have to be in the middle of Gym class… why?

"It seems like we'll be able to kick after all!" Toby said with way too much enthusiasm. On his right Evan groaned and Joey almost followed suit, neither of them wanted to get off the bench. Evan because he was to hot and Joey because he didn't think he'd be able to make it. They were close to the end, in fact the next person up was sitting right next to Toby and seemed to be just as disappointed about his misfortune as Evan and Joey were.

Toby's neighbor walked to the plate and was later followed by Toby. Joey was seriously beginning to worry. Even if Toby or somebody on the bases managed to get an out, he would still have to get up. He began to curse his luck silently as he didn't want Evan to think he was ragging mad. He began to pray that the coach would blow his whistle and they would head in. But nothing happened as Toby managed to kick a high ball and make it to second base.

His head full of fear, Joey forced himself up. Could he make it? One step, good, two steps, good. It hurt worse than fire and Joey seriously wanted to fall down. His head was lightheaded and he felt extremely weak. Thankfully he made it to the plate.

Toby was encouraging him on while Evan whispered to him to stall. Joey ignored them both and used all of his attention to make sure that he was still standing. The pitcher rolled the ball and Joey leaned forward and… managed to kick it! It wasn't as good as Toby's but it was satisfactory. It wasn't until after he kicked the ball that he remembered that he had to run.

Cursing silently he began to run, ignoring the pain he ran forward. He was almost to the plate when a large rock suddenly popped into view and Joey tripped. He didn't get up.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The girls didn't immediately realize that something was up. Most of them were having fun even though they were experiencing the heat as much as the boy's were. At first they had wondered if they would even be playing. When they realized they were, they began to argue about why they couldn't play tackle football. Most weren't complaining as tackling took a lot more energy then stealing a flag and most of the girls liked wearing the flag belts. (1)

Alex always had a blast no matter what the weather. But Paige was experiencing the heat just as bad as Toby and Joey had been.

"It's too hot," she complained to her friend who seemed to only be interested in running circles around her, "How can you be so hyper?"

"Easy!" she laughed, "I had Reese's Puffs for breakfast!"

"You're going to be fat some day!" she yelled to the energetic redhead.   
"Not if I run as much as I do!" Alex yelled, "Come on! Mrs. Peterson says breaks over!"

Once they made it to the spot in which there teacher decided to be the Line of Scrimmage, they began to pick positions; almost everybody wanted to be the center.

"I'm being a corner!" the short girl happily said to the taller girl, "What are you being? And what are you staring at?"

Normally Paige was one of the girls who also wished to be the center, but now she seemed more interested in watching the boys play kickball.

"What are you staring at?" Alex said with a smirk, "Is your crush playing?"

"No, it's just, I can't see Joey, where is he?" the brunette said as she stepped onto her tiptoes, trying to catch sight of there blonde friend.

Finally interested Alex stood on her tiptoes to; she could spot Toby who was on third, and Evan who was sitting on the bench. Both of them were staring at something, and the entire field was beginning to walk towards a particular spot.

"I wonder what's got them so interested," Paige continued.

"Perhaps somebody dropped something while they were running," Alex said with a shrug, there teacher was blowing her whistle, telling them to go into positions, "Let's hurry Paige!"

"But it doesn't explain were Joey is!" Paige reminded the anxious redhead, who was almost skipping on her toes.

"He's probably in the bathroom," the girl reminded her friend, "Let's go, I think you got stuck with being Linebacker!"

True enough Paige got stuck with the Linebacker position, not that the position was to bad, it was close to Alex's. She couldn't help but think that something was wrong.

"Alex, something's not right! Alexandra, are you listening to me?" the brunette said as she gazed toward her hyper friend.  
"Yeah, yeah," Alex said in a way that clearly said, 'I am not listening,' Paige just shook her head and began to wonder when the offense would say "Hike," They were clearly taking there time, perhaps they wanted to wait as long as possible so there energy would be restored. Paige had to agree with them although Alex did not. Hot or cold, rain of shine the redhead was always moving.

Finally the quarterback called, "Hike!" and the girls finally moved into action. Alex began to chase after the running back while Paige headed to the quarterback. In excitement she noticed that the girl playing the quarterback had thrown it to the running back in question. Maybe she could get an interception!

The running back was to far ahead, and she managed to catch it. Rapid thoughts told Alex to grab the flag, and she did, but the other team had managed to gain a few yards. Slightly disappointed with herself, Alex was just about to give the other girl her previously stolen flag back when she noticed the excitement in the boys' side of the field. They were all circle around something, and in a sudden panic she remembered Paige's words, "Alex, something's not right!" Abandoning all earlier thoughts, the girl began to run to the crowd of boy's the yellow flags circling around her waist. What if something wasn't right?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The curious boys were beginning to worry themselves. At first they had just thought that the blond had tripped; but that thought was pushed out of there minds when Joey never got up. The closest boy to the teen had shaken him and after getting no reply had yelled to his teacher that something was wrong. That was when all the boys, even those playing in the field, began to head over to Joey Wheeler.

The teacher had at first thought that the blonde had been joking around. But after threatening his student with detention, he began to realize that this was no joke.

"Wait here!" he commanded his students, "And don't do anything! You'll get a week detention if you do!" That told everyone that he was serious. He was a rather laid-back sort of teacher, his normal punishments being a lap or so around the track at the very worst. A week of detention was really saying something to the teenage boys.

"What do you think happened?" Toby whispered to his smaller friend. Kids didn't collapse every day, in fact this was probably the first time anyone like this had ever happened.

"Perhaps he's sick?" Evan suggested, "Or maybe he has heat stroke. I've heard if somebody gets to hot they'll faint," That could certainly happen on a day such as the one the boys were experiencing. It was certainly a record temperature day.

Evan was just about to ask Toby what he thought their teacher was up to when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"What's wrong?" Alex yelled as she ran puffing slightly to them. "Is something wrong with Joey?" She wasn't sure what gave her that thought, but she couldn't see the tall blonde and Paige had been worrying about him earlier.

"He's fainted," Evan said in a way of description. Paige who had been following Alex came to a stop next to them adding in, "He fainted?"

"We think it's the heat," Toby said adding on to Evan's crude explanation. It was the only thing the boys had been able to think of.

"That is possible," Paige agreed, "My cousin Jackie fainted once on a vacation to Jamaica,"

"But what's happening to Joey!" Alex said not finding the boys answer satisfying. She had completed forgot about the game they had run off on and the flag that was still gripped tightly in her hand.

"The coach ran off," Toby said, "I think he went of to get Miss Rose,"

That answer was satisfactory, there nurse was probably the nicest and best around.

It was a couple more minutes before the coach returned with the school nurse. Miss Rose was holding a canteen of water as well as a few washcloths; she obviously thought it was the heat as well. The students got out of her way as she came running, a job her dress made difficult. She wet a few of her washcloths before placing on her patients head. After that she pulled out some smelling salts that she held right above the teen's nose; he didn't wake up.

"That's odd," she whispered faintly, but the students didn't hear her, "I think we should call an ambulance," she added in as an afterthought. She glanced up at the older man who agreed and pulled out his cell. Much to the students' surprise, he began to dial. They hadn't realized it was so serious!

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Paige asked her nervous friends. The other girls had joined them out of curiosity, and there teacher had come to help.

"He'll be fine," Evan assure her, "There probably only calling because he's not waking up,"

"That's the problem!" Paige called out, "Why isn't he waking up?"

"Because… because… uh," Toby said as he scratched his chin, unable to think up a good answer. Impatient the redhead girl interrupted him and told Paige," He'll be fine," but she wasn't so sure herself.

When the ambulance did arrive, sirens screaming, Joey still had not awakened. The doctors had a quiet word with Miss Rose before they carried Joey to the ambulance on a stretcher.

"Miss Rose can we come?" Alex yelled out at she ran towards the nurse, Toby, Evan and Paige following closely behind her.

"You can't leave school," she told them sternly, "He'll be fine, he only has a bit of sunstroke." Then she headed back into the school, wishing to get out of the accursed heat herself. The four teens watched her walk away, frowning at her response.

"We'll visit him right after school," Evan told the nervous Paige as he and Toby walked away from the girls and towards the boys' locker room. "See you in Lunch!"

"Eh, see you soon!" Alex called out, pulling Paige towards their own locker room, but she was still nervous herself. It was terrible not knowing.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The doctors in the ambulance frowned as they watched their teen patient mumble and jerk in his sleep. Perhaps this was more that a case of sunstroke, but if so what was wrong with the boy?

**Hint 1: You all do now what Flag Football is right? It's when you wear a belt with two flags attached around your waist. Instead of tackling you steal the flag, wherever the flag is pulled off is where the line of scrimmage is moved to. Just a few little incites!**

**Bye Peeps! Please read and review, you have no clue how happy you're nice comments make me feel! **

**If anybody wishes to e-mail, my number is on my Bio. Heehee, if you have any questions or you just want to help leave a message! Or if you just want to talk I'm an open ear!**

**Vale! (Heehee, that's Latin folks) **


	7. Blood in the Bathroom

**Hey Peeps! I hope you're enjoying this story! I love this chapter and I hope you enjoy it too!**

**Reply Time!**

**Kobear91: Heehee, thanks for replying! Don't worry they do find out what happens to him!**

**Randomreviewer: Thanks for replying! In fact now that you mention it, I do get it proofread. Heehee, neither of us is very good at editing. Oh well, I edit it several times and there are still grammar problems. At least I tried, right? Oh, and thank you. I'll try my hardest on the exams!**

**Kayrie: Yes, I did that on purpose. Alex is supposed to be developed. You'll find out why in this chapter! And thank you for the reply! **

**Meowth's Toon Dragon: Heehee thanks! I'll be taking that as a compliment! Thank you for the reply!**

**Note to Readers: All of you mentioned that I have some grammar issues. Could you tell me where so I can correct them? I try my hardest to do a good job editing but it's never good enough. Thank You!**

**Another Note to Readers: I'm going on vacation! And since I have no laptop I won't be able to start typing the next chapter until I get back! I'll put it up as soon as possible!**

**Onto the Story!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 7: Blood in the Bathroom

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (If I did, I wouldn't be taking exams right now!)

Perhaps if she had waited, she could have caught the bus. Unfortunately though, Alex wasn't the type of person to sit and watch the roses grow. In fact, she had no patience whatsoever.

"Slow down! The hospital is on the other side of town! Couldn't we have caught the bus?" Paige yelled as she suddenly stopped running and grabbed a stitch on her side.

"That takes to long!" Alex hollered back and instead of stopping, she increased her pace.

"We would have gotten there faster!" Evan pointed out as he altogether stopped and waited for Paige to catch up, "It's way to hot for running. Do you want to faint like Joey did?"

"This way at least I feel like I'm doing something," Alex said as she ran around the corner leaving Evan and Paige behind. Toby looked back and shrugged before increasing his pace to try and catch up with Alex.

"Here," Evan said as he handed Paige his water bottle which she greedily drank from. If it was possible, and neither of them thought it was, it seemed to have gotten even hotter than it was before. Let's wait for the bus," Evan said to Paige as they sat down on a bench, "We'll get there faster than they will and then we can laugh in their faces,"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Slow down Alex!" Toby hollered as they ran around bikes, strollers and other annoyances. Alex showed no signs of stopping, in fact she was increasing her pace even more. They seemed to have left Evan and Paige far beyond, in fact Toby wouldn't have been surprised if they were waiting for the bus that they should have taken earlier.

"I need to get there as soon as possible!" she called over his shoulder as she turned the corner and headed down the last block to the Wadesville Hospital. Finally, they were there!

For all those concerned, Evan and Paige did make it to the hospital. They did manage to beat Toby and Alex and they did manage to laugh in there faces. Alex ignored them since, overall; she did feel better because this way she felt like she did something to help Joey.

Before an argument could break out, Paige the sensible one, called them all in and they followed her, wanting to see Joey as soon as possible.

All though they were worried over Joey's health, they didn't think this was too big of a problem. In fact, all four of them thought Joey would be awake and drinking a soda or watching T.V. They thought he would be asking them what took them so long with a much too large smile on his face. That was what they expected, what they found was much worse.

"What do you mean he's still out?" Alex demanded as her face turned red with anger. Alex with her sugar highs was almost never mad, but when she was it was best to run away as fast as they possibly can, before she could erupt like Mt. Vesuvius.

"Joey Wheeler is in more critical condition than just a heat stroke," the nurse said promptly, unaffected by Alex's dagger-like eyes.

"What do you mean, critical?" Evan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Family members only," the nurse said, more strictly this time. Before any of them could argue (or fume when it came to Alex) the nurse walked out, extremely fast for someone with such high heels.

"Well that was just great," Toby muttered, ignoring the curses coming from Alex's mouth. None of them were happy and they felt like repeating the words Alex was uttering. But they didn't want to be kicked out so they kept quiet.

"What do you think is wrong?" Paige asked, loudly enough that it blocked out Alex's profanity. All of them shrugged except for Alex, who stopped her cussing for a moment to say, "He probably knew he was sick and didn't want to bother anybody."

"She's probably right," Toby said as he leaned back into his chair and grabbed a sport magazine from of the table, "Let's just relax,"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The doctors did know a lot more than the teens in the waiting room did. After Joey was dropped in by the ambulance staff, the doctors cooled him down a bit, and examined him.

The first thing they noticed was the bandages wrapped around his limbs. A few of them were torn, others were wet with blood. Besides the bandages they noticed the scars practically all over his body. They engraved his skinny limbs and made him look half-dead. After examining him a bit more they noted that some of his injuries were fresh while others were older. It didn't take them long to find the broken ankle.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out; in fact, a man's whose head was full of fluff could have probably even figured it out. The head doctor was neither, but it wasn't long before he ordered his secretary to inform the police about the boy's condition. It was more than obvious the situation the boy was in. He had been abused a lot, but who abused him was a more difficult story.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"I am so bored!" Evan whined for like the thousandth time. They had been there for several hours. The first hour was spent playing Rummy, B.S., Spit and Speed. (1) The next was spent doing there homework (In which only Paige did willing), the third was spent pacing and twiddling there thumbs, and now half-way through the fourth hour, Evan was stating what the rest felt.

"I can quiz you," Paige offered although she would have preferred a nice book and a cup of hot chocolate, "We have a Spanish test tomorrow,"

"Don't remind me!" he moaned, as he turned around to look at the other two, who both took French and said in a whining voice, "You are so lucky that you don't have Spanish!"

Alex shrugged, her previous bad mood evaporated and her sugar level was back up, or at least as high it could get in a hospital, "We have our French orals on Friday,"

"We do?" Toby said as he sat up startled, "But that's tomorrow!"

"How many times has she told us?" Alex said as she began to count her fingers, and then her toes, and then starting on her curls, "It must have been over fifty!"

"Oops?" Toby said as he shrugged and went back to find his place in the magazine. "I'll quiz you then!" Paige said as she turned around and grabbed Toby's book out of his backpack before he could stop her. "What's the word for… servant?"

It was like that for a while, Alex pacing, Evan moaning, Paige quizzing and Toby guessing, in which he got more than half wrong. Evan, who decided the seat was way too hard for his comfort, stood up and said, "I'm going to the cafeteria, do you want anything?"

"I'll take a Pepsi," Paige said looking up from the book.

"I'll take a coke," Alex said as she stopped on her 111th pace.

"I'm going with you!" Toby said as he practically ran away from Paige who kept reminding him how horrible he was in French. The two boys were gone in a flash.

"Do you want me to quiz you?" Paige said with a little disappointment that her pupil had left so suddenly.

"Sure," Alex shrugged before she continued onto her next pace.

"Is something wrong?" Paige asked as she flipped the French book open to another page, "You're just not as hyper as you usually are."

"Is it that noticeable?" Alex sighed before adding, "I'm worried about Joey, I guess. So I suppose that ruins my sugar highs,"

Deciding to ignore the fact that for some reason Alex wasn't her normal hyper self, Paige decided to quiz her, "What's the word for… pizza?"

After about five minutes of being quizzed by Paige, Alex told the brunette that she had to use the bathroom. And in fact she actually did, it wasn't a made-up excuse to get away from Paige.

It didn't take her long to find the bathroom, after asking a dude in a wheelchair and a boy who had bronchitis. She made sure that she was entering the ladies', there were a few times that some boys had changed the signs.

It took her a bit longer than usual since she had a few female necessities to take care of. The bathroom wasn't in the best condition, and with disgust Alex noted that there wasn't any soap. The redhead walked by every single sink and checked for soap. Alex was just about to wash her hands and complain to the rude lady nurse when the door opened and the redhead found to her surprise and disgust that it was a guy.

For the first time in the history of Wadesville, Alex was speechless. It took a few minutes to clear her throat and another to think about what she was going to say.

"Dude, this is the ladies room," Alex said as she turned around and began to wash her hands, deciding to pretend he wasn't there. She was positive that it was the ladies room. She had checked the sign twice and there were special garbage cans in the stalls.

"Are you Alexandra O'Neil?" the man asked instead of leaving like a civilized man would have done. He didn't seem fazed at all that he had entered the wrong bathroom, for Alex it was a different story. How did the guy know her name? She had never seen him before, and she most certainly would have never conversed with him. He was a dirty old man that smelled like booze.

She turned around and glared at the man, "This is the ladies room, get out!" He didn't move an inch. "Scat! Move it! Bye-bye! See You Later!" she said and he still didn't move. She was thinking about screaming. Although it was a very feminine thing to do, it would get the man out of there and fast. She was just about to open her mouth and do a very girlish thing when the man interrupted her, "So, you are Alexandra O'Neil?"

"Yes!" she said frustrated, "Get out before I scream and you get into trouble!" The man before her had stuttered and mixed together all of his words. He was high and needed help immediately, but most important he had to get out!

"Don't move a muscle!" the man said and he whipped a thing out of his pocket.

"I can move and do…" she started before breaking off after noticing that the object in his hand was a gun. The man in question held up the very real gun and pointed it right at her.

"Where's my son?" the man asked as he began to walk towards the frighten girl. The girl in question backed up before she crashed into the sinks, bruising her side. She gripped the sink before she managed to say, "I don't know you or your son! Leave me alone!"

"Where's my son!" the man yelled so angrily that someone was bound to hear.

"I don't know!" she said but it was the wrong answer. The man in question grounded his teeth furiously before pressing the gun against her chest.

"Tell me!" the man demanded and before the redhead could remind the old man that she had no idea, he pulled the trigger and shot her as he stumbled away.

Almost in slow motion Alexandra fell to the floor but somehow managed to let loose a high-pitched scream.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It only took a few minutes before one of them employees decided to investigate.

"I heard a yell and a scream and I was…" the women started out as she opened the door and spotted the body on the floor. The body was a girl around sixteen with short boyish red hair and sporting blue shorts and a black top. The horrible thing was that blood was seeping out of her and her shirt had a large hole in it.

The women opened her mouth wide in horror before she screamed and ran out of the room her hair whirling around her. "Someone come quick!" she yelled. "A girl has been shot!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Paige was beginning to worry.

It was her nature to worry. If someone had a cold, she worried, if someone broke an ankle, she worried, if someone was sent to the hospital, she really worried. So naturally she was beginning to worry about her friend.

Paige wasn't worried much about Evan and Toby. She knew the cafeteria was at the opposite end of the hospital. The two boys would have to find it and then wait in line and then find there way back. No, she was beginning to worry about Alex.

Alex wasn't someone she would normally worry about. With her high spirits she was never emotionally down. Since she could never sit still or be quiet, she was usually always in hearing distance. Alex should have been able to go to the ladies room and back by now. She could have gone to the ladies room and back twice, perhaps three times and that was why Paige was beginning to worry.

And of course, there was Joey. He was injured and something was wrong with him and she had no idea what. The blonde was innocent, and friendly as well as hyper, although not as hyper as Alex. She always won in that department. He didn't deserve whatever was wrong with him. Joey was sick with whatever and Alex was missing. Things weren't going so well today. All Paige really wanted to do was to chug down some aspirin and rent a D.V.D from Blockbuster.

She couldn't, unless she wanted to leave the hospital while Joey was ill and Alex was off in some random place. Perhaps she had left to find the boys, or maybe she tried to sneak into Joey's hospital room and try to see what was wrong with him.

It was stupid, but yet it sounded like something Alex would do. Yes, it was definitely something Alex would do. She really needed an aspirin.

"Where's Alex?" a voice suddenly said. Paige looked up with a start and saw Toby and Evan, the latter was the one who had spoken. They had flopped onto the chairs next to her. "She's in the bathroom," was her response. No point in telling the boys her fears. They never listened until it was too late.

"That's good," Toby smirked, "That way I can have her ice cream," It was then that she noted the various amounts of junk food on both of the boys laps.

"Wait a second!" Paige gasped, "You only went for pop!"

"Uh… oops?" Evan said as he broke open the wrapper concealing an ice cream bar. It was obvious that it wasn't an accident caused Paige to laugh, her fears momentarily forgotten.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Something really odd was happening here.

When the cops had arrived, it was only a few moments later that they heard a lady shout, "Someone come quick! A girls been shot!"

It wasn't every day that an attempted murder took place in a hospital, in fact, it had never happened before.

The head cop was seriously confused about this, but it ended when he heard the doctors' reports. A boy, whose case was the one that they had actually come for, had been abused. The girl that had been shot was his friend. Both cases intertwined with each other. All they had to do was wait for the boy to wake up and then they would figure out who had abused the boy and shot the girl. It was simple really, but yet, so much worse. Like the key to the puzzle was missing.

"What's the girl's name?" the cop asked as he whipped out a notebook and began to take notes. He had to notify her parents.

"Alexandra O'Neil," a doctor said as he nervously twiddled with a ring. He had never been questioned by a cop before.

"And the boy?" the cop asked as he scribbled down the girl's name.

"Joey Wheeler," the doctor said as he dropped his ring with nervousness, he was about to pick it up when the cop suddenly said, "Wait a second, Joey Wheeler, the Joey Wheeler? The famous duel monster pro?"

"I don't know," the doctor said as he picked up his ring and shoved it back onto his finger. He wasn't the type of person who watched T.V. or followed the most popular game in the world. He was more like the type of person to go hike in the woods and play a nice perfectly safe game of chess.

The cop, however, had a teenage boy who always told his father about the upcoming events in his favorite game. Joey Wheeler must have been mentioned plenty of times, and his name was frequently on the news. So he knew about the kid's fame.

The only thing he could think about was that the case had just gotten more serious. A celebrity was involved.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Two hours had gone by.

And the three teens were incredibly bored, as well as terribly worried.

Paige hadn't expressed her concerns until a half hour had gone by. The two boys did not take her seriously. It wasn't until an hour and a half went by that the two boys began to worry. Now, after two hours were gone, the three teens were pretty sure that something was wrong.

No girl took two hours in a bathroom. Not even a preppy one and Alex for sure was not preppy.

"Perhaps we should ask somebody?" Evan suggested. He was going to get in trouble when he got home. He was supposed to be home hours ago. In fact, if he stayed much longer he would break his curfew. He was also hungry. The only dinner he had was a few ice cream bars and he had shared them with Paige.

"And meet that nasty lady again?" Toby shuddered, "I think we should search the building,"

"And get lost?" Paige said. She had always been the sensible one and now she was putting her sense to good use. "I'm going to check the bathroom."

Evan blinked, "Wait a sec; nobody checked the bathroom yet?"

The girl glared at him, "I don't think she'll be in there. But it's better than sitting in this hard uncomfortable chair," and so they headed towards the bathrooms.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

He wasn't the type of person to visit hospitals, but he had just done something horrible. Although he could be quite cranky at times and sometimes just plain unbearable, he wasn't a bad guy at heart. When he realized what he had done, he decided to apologize and ask for forgiveness.

He felt really bad about the situation and he decided that he wanted to explain what happened first and let the blonde know. The kid probably didn't know yet, and it would be better coming from his mouth. Determined, the creeping shadow flicked his black bangs out of his eyes and headed towards the duelist's room. There was only one thing on his mind, how could he have been so stupid?"

In fact he was so furious with himself that he muttered curses as he headed down the hallway towards the room. He was almost there, and when he made it in, he didn't know what to say. He just wanted to apologize and after that he would probably never speak with the blonde again.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"What do you mean, she's in critical danger?" Paige practically yelled, her eyes almost bright red. The boys had never seen her this mad before and they made silent vows to never piss her off, "What happened to her and what's wrong with Joey?"

"Nothing critical," the nurse said hastily as she swept her papers into her arms.

"Not critical!" Paige yelled, "You just said it was!"

"Uh… well you see," the nurse stuttered, trying to explain the situation without doing something stupid.

"Spit it out already!" Paige said as she glared.

"It's a police matter now, I can't tell you anything," the nurse said as she swept her spectacles off. It was the wrong thing to say.

"What!" Paige yelled breaking her two fellows teen's eardrums. Out of the million things that could happen, she did not expect this.

"You must leave before I call the police and you become a suspect," the nurse said as she patted her faint grey hair. Her many years of experience never taught her how to react when teenager's hormones went haywire. Perhaps she should take a course that was starting up in the nearby college.

The two boys obviously agreed.

"Paige…" Toby whispered but it was ignored by Paige who shrieked out, "Suspects? We have no idea what's going on and you threaten us away by daring to call us suspects!"

"Uh…" the nurse whispered before deciding to turn away. Not only was this girl experiencing hormonal problems, but she was also very clever as well. The best decision would be to walk away quietly.

Paige raced after her.

The nurse got away and Paige was extremely pissed.

The boys decided to buy a few ice creams and let Paige cool down, before she turned her anger on them.

It was going to be a very long day or night as it was already past nine.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Joey was beginning to wake up!

After sleeping the day away and getting plenty of treatments for his injuries, he was beginning to wake up. He was slightly upset, perhaps because he had a slight suspicion that the doctors had saw the injuries and pieced the clues together. They probably had come to the conclusion that Joey was a victim of abuse. If his father found out that someone else knew, well let's just say that Joey was screwed… and in more ways then one.

Perhaps his father would get arrested, but that didn't exclude him from Joey's life forever. Eventually his father would get out and when that time came Joey would pay. Joey knew that meant death. Not the pill-eating painless death, one that was going to hurt a lot. Joey was hurting enough already, he didn't need any more bruises.

Perhaps he could run away, perhaps he could do something stupid or perhaps… a light bulb lit up in Joey's head. He had an idea, one that would work!

But before Joey could think up the details to his wondrous plan, the door creaked open. Joey collapsed onto his bed, pretending to be asleep.

"Wheeler, Joey Wheeler, are you up?" The blonde was about to give a fake snore when he suddenly recognized the voice.

"Shawn?" and sure enough it was the brunette. He had the familiar spiked hair and startling eyes. The surprising thing was that he seemed nervous and if you knew anything about Shawn you knew he was never nervous. Something weird was going on.

"There's something I have to tell you," he said.

Yes, definitely something freaky.

**Hint 1: Let's see, Rummy, B.S., Speed and Spit are all card games that I play with my friends during lunch or study hall. All you need to know is that they are card games.**

**Hey Peeps! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I loved writing it! I'll post soon!**

**See Ya!**


	8. Plans of Death

**Sorry this chapter took so long to put up. Not only did I go on vacation, but my internet was temporarily unavailable. **

**Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! This story is getting really good! The next chapter's going to kill you!  
**

**The replies to your responses!**

**Shadow: Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Kobear91: Thanks for reviewing! Alex and Joey are fine, for the time being anyway.**

**joeyluver-dragonofra: Thanks for all your reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the other chapters!**

**Well, onto the story!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 8: Plans of Death

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh (I'd be snoozing in a hot tub if I did)

Perhaps it was because Joey had never had a civilized conversation with Shawn or perhaps it was the nervous air that surrounded the spiky brunette. Either or, the blonde knew something was up.

"What is it?" Joey said as he flicked a strand of hair out of his eyes. The brunette had his undivided attention.

Shawn did not want to answer.

"Well you see…" the other teen started as he went in search of a chair and found one close to the door. He pulled it near the white-covered bed, the brunette sunk into it and began to comb through his spikes. "Do you know what happened to O'Neil?" He said.

"What's wrong with Alex?" Joey said as he sat up suddenly. He wanted to jump up and yell at Shawn to continue but the bandages were stiff and any movement at all was difficult. He resolved in glaring, hoping the brunette would be freaked out enough to continue. His evil glares were wondrous; he had plenty of practice glaring at a certain Seto Kaiba back in Domino.

"So… you don't know…" the brunette whispered to himself, oblivious to the fact that Joey could hear him. After a second or so of silence, the boy started up again, "Ok… it wasn't long after school ended. I was heading over to skate park when this dude in this rusty vehicle called me down,"

"What'd he look like?" Joey said, wondering what this had to do with him or Alex.

"It was an old man. He seemed high or something… couldn't stop stuttering or swearing and he smelled awful… like booze." Shawn shuddered. The movement was invisible to Joey. He knew the drunk that Shawn was talking about. He was describing his father!

"The funny thing was he asked were you where. I wasn't going to tell him, even if you're my enemy, this dude was high! He told me he was your father. He even had papers to proving it. So I thought it was this one-time thing, ya know? Like, maybe he got a promotion and he decided to celebrate in a nearby bar." The brunette continued, as he described the scene that had took place earlier that day.

"So, what'd you do?" Joey asked as he tried to pretend that he didn't care one way or another. He was proud to admit that his voice didn't stutter at all.

"I told him… he had papers and all… it was pretty convincing that he was your father. Since you fainted in school, there was a reason why he wouldn't know where you were. So I pointed him in the direction of the hospital… and he left. He almost ran over a lady with a stroller. I'm surprised his license hasn't been taken away by a cop," the boy said as he continued to describe the scene. He didn't notice the odd look that overcame Joey's face.

So his father knew about that fainting thing? But how, Shawn was describing it like it happened right after school! But normally he would have been doing one of his jobs. His father never expected him that early.

"So what happened next?" the blonde asked as he bit his lip to stop himself from stuttering.

"Well, my father is the chief cop and they think you've been abused." Shawn said as he paused to glance at Joey's facial expression, which Joey just managed to keep blank, "They think it's the same dude I saw… and the same dude that shot O'Neil,"

Well that seemed about right. He had already guessed that much and wait… Alex was shot? Joey's eyes bulged and he gasped.

"Wait a second! What happened to Alex?" Joey said as his facial expression finally gave away and the panic shown through his face. Shot! His father had hurt somebody!

"The person that claims to be your father, that's who. My dad thinks he wanted O'Neil to tell him where you were and when she didn't, he shot her." Shawn said as a glimmer of regret shown through his face. Joey began to wonder why Shawn was here.

"So you're here…. because why?" Joey said with a notched eyebrow as he tried not to think of Alex's condition.

"I told him were you where," Shawn reminded the other teen. "If I hadn't… then Alex wouldn't have been shot… and… I feel a bit guilty." Suddenly anger that was directed at himself overcame the boy's face and eyes and before Joey knew it, the brunette had stood up and was heading towards the door.

"Wait a second!" Joey called out as he watched Shawn pause. "What's Alex's condition?"

"She's out of danger… she'll make it," and then he left.

Joey doubted that he'd ever see him again.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Yep… something was most certainly up.

The three teens couldn't think of a time in which they saw so many police cars in one place with their sirens blaring and screeching. Adults in blue uniforms were talking to doctors, staff, and other people that had no idea what was going on. The three of them were certain that it had to do with Joey and Alex.

"What do we do now?" Evan asked Paige who was frowning as she played with the braid in her hair.

"We spy on the cops," Paige said like she was conversing about the weather and began to walk towards a large cop who was talking to an elderly old lady.

The two boys gasped.

"Wait a second… we're going to spy on cops who are questioning other people?" Toby said as he watched the girl go, her back stiff and her head back in a nervous manner.

Paige never spied on people… and cops were the hardest to spy on. After all, they were trained to spy. How could they know if somebody was spying on them spying on somebody else? They had to know what was wrong with Joey and Alex. After all, they were there best friends.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Joey had the best of plans… in fact he was wondering why he had never done it before.

Joey was beyond furious at himself. After watching the brunette boy leave, Joey had screamed into the pillow and had punched the wall, resulting in an aching mouth and a bleeding fist. After letting his anger die down, he could think more properly. Alex… one of his best friends had been shot by his father because he had let his guard down. Out of the million things his father could do to him, this one was by far the worst. And was totally unexpected and Joey was furious.

Joey began to think of his options. Joey had decided to go with the one he liked the most. He couldn't tell the cops everything, no matter what they did to his father, he would punish him some how. He couldn't run away, what if he hurt Alex again or injured another one of his friends? He couldn't find his father and pretend nothing had happened. His father would make him pay… which meant death. If Joey was scared of one thing… it was his father. There was no way he could beat his father. His father was too big and powerful and he was too scrawny and weak. He was scared. After having the life beaten out of him by his father for so long, there was no way he could face up to him. He was too scared.

There was only one option, and that was to kill himself.

His friends had always scorned people who had committed suicide. They always wondered how life could be so horrible that someone would want it to end. Joey had always admired them. He had wanted his life to end, but he had been too much of a coward to do it. Now, he had a true reason to do so. He had to make sure none of his friends got hurt. A horrible smile came upon Joey's face as he thought of the true end.

His life was horrible, after all. He had been taken away from his friends and even though he had made new ones, it wasn't the same. He had to work day in and day out to supply himself and his drunken father with money. There was no way that Joey could go to college and fulfill his dream to become an animator. He was abused every night by his father and he had scars littered all over his body. He was scared of sudden movements. He was thin and weak. He was a coward and a worthless human being. He was scared of his father and he was scared of his knives. He was worthless. He was weak. He was ugly, he was dumb, he was pitiful and he hated it.

His friends didn't know the true Joey Wheeler. They didn't know how he cried every night. They didn't know that he slept in his own bloody bandages. They didn't know how he was practically starved. They didn't know how he worked every minute of the day. They didn't know how he was always tired, how he always wanted a break. They didn't know how his strong spirit was being eroded away. He had practically nothing left.

His father had finally won. Joey had lost all of his will to live. He just wanted it to end. End it for eternity.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Paige, Evan and Toby found out a lot of information.

After spying on a meeting between the chief cop and his lieutenant, the three teens finally figured out what had gone wrong.

Joey was a victim of abuse and none of them ever knew.

"I can't believe it!" Paige half-screeched, as a few tears trickled from her eyes. She tried to imagine Joey with scars and abrasions and was unable to. This was Joey they were talking about; celebrity, duel-monster champion, innocent and carefree. Joey… a victim of abuse… they couldn't believe it.

Then it all started to make sense. That's why Joey never went swimming or wore shorts and t-shirts. He was afraid of showing off his scars. Joey hated being touched. He was scared of being hurt. That's why they never saw Joey after school and why they were never invited to his house and finally, why they never met his father. It was all there, the facts and the figures, and they had never noticed it all. The three of them felt beyond guilty.

"We have to do something." Toby said firmly as stood up with sudden grace. They couldn't just sit here.

"Like what?" Evan demanded to know. He felt they should leave it to the police. They would only screw it up. The only thing they could do was cheer Joey up, but he was zonked out at the moment or so he thought.

"Well… uh…." Toby stuttered as he glanced at Paige for help. Paige could not offer support. Tears were streaming from her eyes and her face was all blotchy. Evan, who was sitting close to her, embraced her and whispered, "It's gonna be ok,"

None of them really thought it would be.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Joey was all set.

He thought through all the details to his little plan. Joey saw no reason to stay. He decided the sooner he got it done the better. Leaving was really quite simple really. Nobody was in sight. He had no way of knowing that most of the doctors and nurses were being questioned outside. He had no way of knowing that the cops were close to figuring out the entire case.

The only thing on his mind was ending his life and he couldn't wait for it to happen.

However, there was one thing that needed to be done first. After pausing for a second to grab a razor knife from the kitchen, he headed towards his first destination, Alexandra's room.

It was easy enough to find. The only people in sight were two nurses, and after ducking behind a potted plant he managed to stay concealed. He heard their gossip which was about him… and Alex.

The nurses knew way too much… and he didn't want to think about what the cops knew. He waited until the nurses were out of sight and then he ran towards Alex's room, which was room 120.

Even though he found it easy enough, going in was harder. Inside was a friend who had been injured because of him. In his current state of mind he placed all the blame upon himself, and never thought about how he was unable to stop it. It was entirely his fault. His father was right. He was a worthless scum and a dumb one as well.

Hearing the nurses approaching, he quickly slipped into the room and began to walk towards the bed, Alex's bed.

She was pale, so pale that she was as white as snow and her freckles were more clearly visible. Her flame-red hair was the only bright thing in the room, and it was mussed and messy. All the bandages were what really stuck in his mind. Although the blankets were mostly covering her, he could tell that her chest was covered by thick white bandages. They looked just like the ones he was wearing. She was injured… and it was entirely his fault.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered as he stood near the bed. He watched her face as she turned and muttered in her sleep. She didn't answer. But he didn't want her to.

"It's just… oh I shouldn't have gotten you involved. Look at you! You're in a hospital and encased with bandages." The blonde continued as he watched Alex, who still did not answer. He needed to get going… before she woke up.

"I came here to apologize and to say goodbye." Joey said as he began to comb through his hair, causing it to spike in almost the same manner as Shawn's.

"It's all going to end tonight. My father's abuse. If I'm not around he can't hurt me, and nobody else will get hurt. I'll finally be free! Free from all my pain and suffering and…" Joey began to whisper before he broke into endless sobs and he fell to his knees on the floor.

He had held it in to long, all his pain and suffering and it was finally coming out. But he didn't care, because it'd be over soon. He began to sniff and soon he stopped crying. He stood there staring at Alex and affirmed that she was still asleep. He began to search his pockets and found what he was looking for… his deck.

After finding it he placed a single card on the desk and turned away before leaving the room.

He'd never see her again… he was completely certain of that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

They felt useless.

After stating idea after idea and criticizing them all the three of them had collapsed onto the ground. They were beginning to question whether they should just go home before they heard a shout, a very loud shout.

"He's gone!" a woman shouted, her nurse uniform swirling around her. Before anybody could ask who, she continued. "Joey Wheeler's gone!"

"Where'd he go?" The chief cop asked as he frowned. This case just got even more serious. He should have thought about issuing a guard earlier!

"How should I know?" The woman demanded as she placed her hands on her hips. "I just went into his room and he was gone! I thought you'd want to know."

The cop nodded before issuing his orders. A few policemen left to examine the victim's room. Others continued to question the staff. The only two not working were the two head cops, who were having a whispered conversation. Luckily for the teens, they were hidden close by.

"Yeah, they think he's off on Vine Street," the lieutenant whispered to his superior officer. "A report came in. The suspect's drunk and is muttering something about a son and something he did,"

"It seems right," the chief agreed, "Get the crew that's examining the room and head out to vine street. I'll stay here,"

The lieutenant agreed before hurrying off to Joey's room.

Unknown to the two of them, three interested ears had been listening.

"Where do you think he went?" Evan whispered as the three of them puzzled. Why would Joey run away?

"We have to look for him!" Paige said as she rubbed her eyes and stood up with energy, "Maybe we can find him and figure out what's wrong,"

"Yeah…" Toby whispered as he frowned, "Let's split up! You two head of towards Rose Ave. I'll head towards Chestnut Street,"

"Ok!" Evan agreed. He knew if they split up they would find him sooner. Paige agreed. The two of them didn't think about how Chestnut Street was right next to Vine Street. If they had, perhaps they would have guessed Toby's plan.

Toby watched the two leave before he turned around and headed off towards Vine Street muttering, "You and I have a score to settle,"

Joey might have been weaker than his father, but Toby was positive that he was stronger than the old man. He was going to teach him a lesson, one he'd never forget.

Never hurt those who are weaker than you.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Unbeknown to the officers and his friends, Joey had headed out of the hospital and to the largest building in sight… he had an idea.

At first he considered jumping, but if he did something that extravagant, it wouldn't take somebody very long to realize what he had done. If he somehow managed to survive, he would be taken to the hospital and he would be totally screwed.

So he was at lost for a short while until he came upon the razor blade. He could cut himself and eventually bleed to death. If he could find a good enough hiding place he could just lay there until he died. It would take a while for anyone to find him, and when they did, all they would find would be his cold corpse. Besides, cutting and bleeding hurt less than slamming into the ground. All he needed was a place to do the act, and he decided on doing it on top of one of the many skyscrapers. It was night time and nobody would be on top of a building, it would be perfect.

It was also good that almost nobody else was out. That way he could avoid stares, in which he would most surely get. He could feel a weird tension around him, almost like he was surrounded by a nervous air. Even though he now possessed a grander amount of bravery, anybody, even if they were partly insane, would be nervous about attempting such an act.

Being a celebrity didn't help much.

So, happily, he headed off towards the building, avoiding the few stares from the few people that were there as he rubbed the razor blade which was securely fastened inside his pocket.

Soon he would be free.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Paige and Evan had no idea about what Toby was up to nor did they know where there friend was hiding. All in all, they were pretty clueless.

"Perhaps we should just go home," Paige said sadly as the repeatedly walked down the streets on there side of the city.

"Maybe we should check the phonebook!" Evan suggested, "Perhaps he's at his home. He never told me were he lived,"

"It wouldn't work," Paige said sadly, "He just moved here remember? He couldn't have been added to the phone book so quickly,"

Then there was more silence.

"Where would you go if you ran away from a hospital and you were abused?" Evan questioned.

"I wouldn't have gone home. I would have found somewhere safe. But the hospital was safe, why would he have run away from it?" Paige mumbled as she pulled a bang away from her face, "Its past curfew you know,"

"Yeah, I know," Evan said, "But I'm going to continue looking for him. I can take you home if you want."

"No," Paige said. "I want to keep searching. I just wanted to tell you in case you didn't know."

They went off continuing their endless search.

**Wahoo! I finished another chapter! The next one is going to be the last. This story's almost over! I hoped you enjoyed it!**

**Well I'll be seeing you! And I'll update as soon as possible!**

**Bye-Bye!**


	9. Time to Die

**Hey Peeps!**

**The last chapter is finally up! I hope you guys have enjoyed this story, I loved writing it!**

**The replies to your reviews!**

**Shadow: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry the chapter took so long to post. I went on vacation for a week and I forgot to mention it in my last chapters. Oops!**

**joeyluver-dragonofra: Hey! Thanks for the review. I hope you like this chapter and I hope you don't end up throwing radishes at me. Heehee. I would prefer chocolate. Oh! And the answer to the question you posted on my other fic. "Oro" is a comment frequently said by Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. It means, "Huh?" or, "What" If you have any other question feel free to ask! But please leave your e-mail. It will be easier to answer questions. **

**Onto the story! Wahoo!**

The Life of a Blonde

Chapter 9: Time to Die

By yllom21

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-GI-Oh (Please, don't sue me)

Toby wasn't having much more luck.

He was heading towards Vine Street. Half of his mind he used to search the empty barren streets while the other half was coming up with a plan.

He was going to stop Joey's abuser.

He knew for certain that he wasn't going to kill the man, because he didn't have the guts. Besides, killing would get him in trouble. All he wanted to do was to knock the dude unconscious and tell the cops. That way the man would be in jail and he would have helped Joey with his problem.

He didn't know how he was going to knock the dude unconscious. He was pretty sure the man was drunk, the police had said as much. However, he could use that against the man. He knew being drunk usually caused anger issues, but it also slowed down the mind and reflexes. He would easily be able to defeat the man. He was pretty sure the man had only managed to beat the shillings out of his friend because of his superior strength. However, Toby didn't fall into that category. He was a football player, one whose job it was to tackle. He was tall and much heavier than Joey. With his strength and his clear mind he was sure there wouldn't be a problem in defeating this man. He was just a little nervous, after all the man had shot Alex. Who said he still didn't have a gun?

But before he could ponder over the gun issue, the teen heard a noise.

"Who's there?" Toby called out clearly, not a bit of him was afraid. He was nearing the spot were the police thought he was he was hiding. He was pretty sure the alcoholic was near by.

If he was he didn't respond.

"Who's there?" Toby repeated as he scanned down the nearest ally way. He was about to continue on his way when he heard a sound, this time more clearly. It sounded like the crashing of broken glass.

Or, perhaps, a beer bottle.

Smiling in an almost inhumane like way, Toby headed down the ally, his fist tight and ready to go. Everybody said he had a killer punch, and he was aiming to give his rival a black eye, or maybe a broken nose.

There was another sound of a breaking bottle before the man finally spoke up, "Ah, Joey. So you finally decided to show up,"

That proved it was Joey's abuser and not some random drunk.

"It's not Joey," Toby said as his eyes scanned the area. It was too dark to see his opponent, but he knew he was there.

"Don't fool me boy," the man's voice was louder and angrier, "I'll kill ya!"

Toby was about to laugh before a large shape came crashing into him, knocking him into the ground.

That was the first time it occurred to Toby about how serious this was. Joey's abuser really wanted to kill him. No wonder the blonde was scared. Toby sympathized, but it was time to take care of the matter at hand.

Pushing the man off of him and ignoring a fierce bruise that was starting to take shape on his arm, Toby leaped towards his opponent's face, aiming for his eyes. He missed, but he managed to get a good hit on the nose, Toby suspected it was broken. The man glared furiously, rubbing his injured nose, his eyes gleaming so fiercely they almost glowed in the dark. The man aimed a punch towards Toby who nimbly dodged it but received a quick jab in the ribs.

They broke apart and began to circle; both of them breathing loudly, the man's breath stank of booze.

The man was the first to get impatient, and he ran towards his opponent, his fist clenched tightly. Unable to attack back; Toby became defensive. He blocked all of the punches and kicks while searching for an opening. One soon appeared, and smiling grimily, Toby kicked into it, causing the man to sink down to his knees. Smiling that he had one, Toby was about press the pressure point on the back of the man's neck when the man in question turned around. Although he was unable to stand he was grinning evilly. Toby was about to wonder why when the man pulled out a gun, a fully loaded gun.

"You shouldn't have told anybody," the man said like he was talking to his son. During the entire fight he didn't see Toby for what he was, a tall muscular boy with light brown skin and shortly cropped hair, but he saw him as a tall yet skinny fair blonde. Because of his booze level and his crazed eyes, he saw only what he wanted to see.

"I didn't say anything!' Toby protested as he began to walk backwards, his heart pounding. He was trying to think of a way to steal the gun, but anything he could think of would have been a fruitless attempt. He was just about to give up when he tripped over a beer bottle. An idea sparked.

"Then what's with all the police?" the man demanded. Although he was drunk he could tell the difference between a cop car and a bear. Almost as though he wanted the job to be done as soon as possible, he fingered the trigger.

"It's because you hurt Alex!" Toby said as he fingered the beer bottle, waiting for the last possible moment.

"It's your entire fault!" the man screamed before he swirled the gun round, preparing to shoot. Before he could, Toby jumped at him, slamming the beer bottle on top of his head. The bottle broke and in shock the man dropped the gun.He wasn't knocked out, much to the brunette's dismay, but at least his life was not longer in danger. The man, after shaking his head to try and get rid of the broken glass, tried to find the gun, only to see it being pointed at him by the teen he thought was his son.

"Joey, please don't," the man trembled, revealing who he truly was, a bully and a coward.

"You should have thought about that before," Toby said as he walked towards the man. He wasn't planning on using the gun, but this way he couldn't be shot and his opponent was frightened silly by it.

"Don't shoot your father," the man pleaded, still trying to back away before he was cornered by a wall.

Toby smirked and was about to make a pert remark when he remembered what the man said… father. This was Joey's father? Joey's father was the one who abused the blonde. Uncertainty shone through Toby's eyes before anger sparked, Joey's own father? He was about to do something drastic when the man leaped at him. Thinking he was no longer in danger because of the boy's silence, he reached towards the gun. He tryed to pry it out of the boy' hands, but Toby resisted. He knew what the man was planning on doing when he got the gun and it wasn't pleasant.

But the man didn't stop. He needed that gun, he couldn't win without it. Smirking horribly, he stomped on the boy's foot, causing the boy to grimace. Unfortunately for him, the boy didn't let go. So, out of options, the man crashed into the boy, planning on grabbing the gun out of confusion. But the stupid boy wouldn't give up. Cursing he reached forward, trying everything he could think of to get hold of the gun.

Toby was scared, so scared the only thing he could think of was to keep hold of the gun. He was doing well until he crashed into a brick wall, cornered by the man.

"Hand it over!" the man drawled. Toby only shook his head. Furious he leaped forward. In fright, Toby accidentally pressed the trigger; a shot was heard throughout the night.

In total surprise, Toby watched as the man fell to the ground. In relief, the boy sank to the ground. It wasn't until he noticed the blood seeping out of the man and the still chest that Toby realized what he had done.

He had murdered somebody.

Tears rolling down his cheeks, he dropped the gun. What had he done?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Slowly but surely, Alex began to awaken. It didn't take her long to sit up straight, even though the pain was almost unbearable. At first she couldn't remember were she was. It wasn't at all like her room, which was painted a startling color of green and was covered in posters of her favorite Anime and movies. This room was a startling white, almost blinding. It was like a hospital room… and then she remembered.

She remembered it all: the man in the ladies' room, her getting shot and the man pestering her about his precious son. Here she was, in a bed, in a dressing gown and unable to stand up.

She bit her lip, knowing what the man had said was critical. She had to tell the cops what had happened, as well as the criminal's description, what if he shot somebody else? Panic spread throughout her and she attempted to stand, only to collapse onto her bed. It was three tries later before she gave up. It was then that she noticed the card.

It was a duel monster card, she could tell even though it was faced down. She reached forward and turned it over, a gasp let loose when she realized what card it was.

The Red Eyes Black Dragon! Joey's card!

Since Joey was a celebrity, much of his deck was known and the Red Eyes Black Dragon was his card. Just like the Blue Eyes was Kaiba's, the Dark Magician was Yugi's and the Harpy Lady was Mai's. It was there symbol, something everybody knew. If there was a Blue Eyes, everybody thought of Kaiba, it was just the way it worked.

Joey must have given it to her, but why? It was an extremely rare card, and Joey only had one. Joey Wheeler just wouldn't be Joey Wheeler without his Red Eyes… and then it occurred to her.

Joey was leaving… and she was never going to see him again.

For the first time in ten years, she cried.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Joey smiled grimly as he walked onto the roof, the sky dark and littered with stars.

He could finally end it all.

Heading towards the edge of the roof, he sat down on the edge, watching the few cars roll by. After a moment or two of silence, Joey began to fish through his pockets, trying to find the razor blade which he had stolen from the hospital. It was sharp and unused, perfect for what he was about to do.

It was time to slit his wrist.

Smiling happily, he pulled the sleeve of his shirt up revealing his skinny wrist, before he laid his knife on top of it. He cut down and the blood began to flow. Instead of pain he felt happiness. He had finally reached the end. He cut down deeper.

Watching the blood flow he began to think of his friends back home, the ones he had left behind. He wished Tea good luck in her dancing, she was marvelous. He knew she would be a star some day. He wished Tristan good luck, knowing without a doubt that wherever the teen went, he would help somebody out. He wished Yugi good luck as well as his counterpart, the Pharaoh. May they be Duel Monster Champions until the day he died. He wished Ryou good luck, and almost hesitantly, his counterpart, The Thief King Bakura. Ryou was the sweetest kid out there. Even though Yami Bakura could be evil and just plain freaky at times, he wasn't all bad. 1

He wished Mai good luck. She had a dream of being a Duel Monster Champion, but she already was. In fact, she was a role model for plenty of girls. She could be feminine at times and yet kick everyone's butt. She could also be dangerous, with her motorcycle skills. He wished the Ishtar family good luck. Malik had changed for the better, now that his Yami was gone forever. Ishuzi was the sweetest lady out there, ready to give anybody who asked a hand. And Odion would protect his family till the end. And finally, last but not least, he wished the Kaibas good luck. Mokuba was a genius of a kid, and he had helped the gang out plenty of times. Even though he hated Seto Kaiba's guts, he had helped them out a few times and he wasn't all bad.

He cut deeper, watching the blood flow even faster. He began to think of his friends in Wadesville.

Toby was a fantastic friend and a great football star. He wished him good luck and hoped he got into a college for it some day. Evan was just a normal kid, sweet and almost like Ryou in a way, although he didn't posses a five thousand year old spirit who was once the Great Thief King Bakura. Paige was smart, although she wasn't as smart as the Kaibas (Who was?). He wished her good luck in college, knowing she wanted to do something important once High School was over. And then there was Alex. He wished her good luck, even though he had no idea what she wanted in life. He wished for her to get well, knowing that it was his fault that she was in the hospital, all bandaged up.

He decided to give his left wrist a break and moved onto his right. He cut in deep, grinning with delight as drops of blood became a small stream.

He was almost there.

Of course, he had no idea that Toby had murdered his father, quite accidentally, and he had nothing to fear. He had no way of knowing that his two friends, Paige and Evan, were combing the streets for him, not going to give up until they found him, even if they were grounded for a year. He had no way of knowing that Alex was awake and well, crying for the first time since she was a child, clenching his card in her hands.

He began to lie down as his body grew weak he began to lost focus, He knew this was the end. He could finally be granted passage way to peace.

Smiling almost childishly, he remembered all of his memories from his childhood, the time before his father was an alcoholic. He remembered the times in which he helped Yugi and the Pharaoh save the world, messing with unbelievable magic. He remembered the day he met Ryou, the day Tea did her first performance. He remembered the day Tristan saved his butt, and the first day he dueled Kaiba. He remembered meeting Mai and he remembered the road he took to be a celebrity. Here he was, dying on a rooftop and he couldn't have been happier.

Memories began to fade, and the light began to grow dim before he was surrounded by bursts of lights. 2. He no longer remembered his father's beatings, only of his friends. He no longer remembered the pain, only the happiness. He forgot the despair inside and he forgot what he truly was. He forgot what his life had been like…

… The Life of a Blonde… and he couldn't have been happier.

**Hint 1: I couldn't help myself; I love Yami Bakura as well as Ryou! So, if you believe Yami Bakura is evil, that's ok. But personally, I believe Yami Bakura is partly good. Not all good, that's just unbelievable. But I believe he's a halfway decent dude. **

**Hint 2: Heehee, please don't hurt me. Joey wanted to die, and so I obliged. I'm sure he's happy off in heaven with his fluffy white wings. **

**It's what you least expected huh? Well, I at first thought that perhaps he could be saved, but I said nah! You see, when I started this story there were only two things I was certain about. 1: Joey's father was a drunk and an abuser, and 2: Joey was going to commit suicide. I couldn't change the inevitable. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed this fan fiction! It's my first chapter story, and even though it's not fantastic, I'm proud of it nonetheless. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail as well as review. Your questions will be answered, I assure you. **

**I want to thank everybody that has read my story as well as reviewed. You have no idea at all what this means to me! I'm so proud that I finished my first story! Thank you everyone! I love you!**

**Oh, and please don't yell at me. Joey's father died too! It's what you all wanted!**

**Heehee!  
**

**Bye!**


End file.
